Life in the Fast Lane
by vaughnloveralwaysandforev
Summary: MIRACLE-Mark Johnson's dream was to go to the Olympics and win a gold medal. He knew it was dreaming big, but he didn't expect so much more would make him happy. COMPLETE!
1. The Beginning of It All

A/N: Okay, everyone, here's my new story. I'm going to try to update weekly, probably Saturday afternoons. I'm not making any promises, but I'll try my hardest. You know the drill . . . please read and review!

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"Name?" a man wearing a USA Hockey shirt asked the hockey player standing on the opposite side of the table.

"Mark Johnson."

The man scanned the list, checked off Mark's name, and handed him a number and a towel. "The locker room is down the hallway and on the left."

"Thanks."

Mark headed to the locker room and on his way saw quite a few familiar faces. They were all in a hockey arena in Colorado that sunny day in June to tryout for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team. Mark Johnson really wanted to make the team, but he knew he would have some competition. All of the guys that were there to tryout were talented hockey players, which he knew because he had played against them again and again in college.

Not only that, but Mark was debating whether trying out was really the right thing to be doing. Making the team would be great for him, but not necessarily for everyone else in his life. The 'what ifs' that began running through Mark's head were interrupted by someone that had just walked over to him.

"Hey, you're Mark Johnson right? Magic?"

"Yeah," Mark asked, turning to the guy that asked.

"I'm Robbie McClanahan," he said, sticking out his hand. Mark nodded. He knew of Mac.

"Mac, right?"

"Yep," he replied, then commented, "I had no idea I was so famous." Mark gave him a look that asked what Mac meant before he explained. "A lot of the guys I've met already seemed to know me."

"Well, I guess it's expected. Most of us have been playing against each other for four years now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, good luck. See you on the ice," Mac said, and walked off in the direction of the rink. Mark finished getting ready and then headed out to the ice himself.

Mark thought the tryout was halfway easy, and hoped the coach, Herb Brooks, saw how well Mark did and how hard he tried. Not that playing well and putting forth effort completely mattered, because Herb and Mark's father were bitter rivals, and if Herb wanted to cut Mark based on that, he would find a reason. Mark hoped that Herb wouldn't let a rivalry cast a shadow on Mark's ability, but he wasn't sure. He wasn't cocky, but he knew he was a good player and that he played better a number of the other guys there. Mark knew he deserved a spot on the team.

When the guys were getting showered and changed in the locker room afterwards, someone came in to tell them to meet in the stands when they were done. A rumor quickly spread that Herb had already picked the team and that tryouts were over a few days early.

Sure enough, Craig Patrick began calling names once the guys were settled in their seats. Mark didn't feel nervous, because he felt that he deserved a spot, so now it was all up to Herb. As soon as Mark heard his name called, he breathed a sigh of relief, a breath that he was unaware of holding. In a week, he'd be off to Minnesota.

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That night, Mark went to a local bar with his new teammates to celebrate making the team and to get to know the other guys. Almost everyone was working on the psychology tests Herb was making them take.

"Do you guys think Herb is just making us take these, or is he really going to read our answers?" Bah wondered out loud.

"I don't know. It's a lot to read through, but why would he make us take them if he wasn't going to look at them?" Buzz said.

"Maybe he just wants to see if we did it. He might not read the actual answers," said Christian.

"Why don't you see? Just write a really stupid answer for one, and see if he says anything," joked Mac.

"This isn't one of those tests to see how well we follow directions right?" Buzz said out loud. "There aren't any directions at the beginning that tell us to only answer a couple questions, are there?" Buzz said as he flipped back to the beginning to check.

"I already looked, Buzz. That was the first thing I thought of after we got these thick packets," Mark told him.

"Oh well. It looks like we're back to finishing," said Mac.

"I know!" Buzz exclaimed, sounding like he had a good idea. "How about we each answer a page, then we'll share our answers."

"Better yet, let's copy Verchota's and Jannie's. They're already done," said Bah.

"Yeah, and then we'll really know if Herb reads them or not. He's not stupid. He'd know we all had the same answers," Mark pointed out.

"Well, only the five of us. The rest of the guys will have different answers."

Although the group thought of several ways to get out of finishing their tests, they all ended up finishing them anyway. It was getting late by the time they were done though, so most of the guys left instead of hanging around. Mark got to know most of the guys from Minnesota that he didn't know already, but he had yet to even meet some of the guys from Boston. The Boston-Minnesota rivalry clearly divided their team, and Mark hoped that by the time they began practicing everyone would get along. He overheard Rizzo earlier, saying that a few people in particular were still upset about the '76 championship. Mark had seen the game, and knew all about the feud between Boston University and the University of Minnesota. Mark also guessed that the "people in particular" that Rizzo was referring to was actually probably only one person, OC. Mark hoped for everyone's sake that OC would find a way to forgive and forget soon.

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The following Sunday morning Mark arrived in Minnesota, and carrying his hockey equipment and a suitcase, he got his room key and made his way upstairs to find his room. The whole flight, he wondered whether he was really doing the right thing. Leaving the life he had in Wisconsin for seven months was proving to be harder than he originally thought.

Mark noticed that the door to his room was already open, so he figured his roommate for the next seven months was already inside. It was Mac.

"Hey roomie!" Mac said happily.

"Hey Mac," Mark responded with slightly less enthusiasm. It wasn't that he wasn't happy with the rooming situation, because he liked Mac, but Mark just didn't have as outgoing a personality as Mac.

"So, do you have any pet peeves I should know about? I don't want to piss you off too much or anything," Mac said.

"Not really," Mark answered. "You don't snore ridiculously loudly or talk in your sleep, do you?"

"Not that I know of," Mac said. "But then again, if I'm sleeping, I wouldn't really know."

"Good point," Mark said and smiled. "How about you, any pet peeves?"

"Nope. Just don't bring different girls home every night. And don't get wasted too often, because I'm not cleaning up after you. It happened too often in college. My roommate-"

"Is standing right behind you," Verchota said, finishing Mac's sentence. Mac and Mark turned around. Verchota continued. "I know. I wasn't the best guy to room with at times. But now you don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Who's your roommate, Verchota?"

"Christian."

"Lucky him," Mac said sarcastically as Verchota walked into their room and flopped on one of the beds, making himself at home.

"Okay, so believe it or not, I didn't come to talk about my bad habits, but I actually came by here to see what you guys were up to tonight," He said.

"Nothing," Mark answered.

"Well, everyone's going down to McGuire's for drinks and some pool. And maybe a few girls," he added with a chuckle. "I know the Boston guys want to see what Minnesota has to offer in that department."

"They've actually talked to you?" Mac scoffed.

"Yeah, even OC. Of course, with him it was like pulling teeth at first. But I think he really only has a problem with you," Verchota said brightly.

"Of course," Mac said dryly.

"I usually don't like getting involved in this kind of stuff, and I don't like to take sides, but I think he needs to get over it," said Mark.

"Maybe Mac could speed things up by apologizing," suggested Verchota, though not directing the statement at Mac himself.

"It'll be a cold day in Hell before I apologize to him. What should I apologize for anyway?"

"Well, I don't know . . . cheap shotting him," Verchota said hesitantly.

"Well clearly you're on his side now," Mac told him.

"No, but if an apology for whatever, will get him to stop whining and make peace between you two . . . I just think you should do whatever it takes."

"He has a point Mac. We're going to be together for the next seven months, we might as well become friends," said Mark.

"But I don't wanna apologize," Mac whined.

Mark laughed. "You sound like my-" he said, then stopped quickly as Mac narrowed his eyes at him, seeing if he would continue.

"Like your what?" Verchota asked, wanting Mark to continue.

"Well, like my sister. She whines just like that," Mark said.

"And she's probably about five," Verchota said with a laugh.

"Yeah," Mark said and smiled. Maybe coming to Minnesota was the right thing to do. It would be a lot of fun with these guys.

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Okay, let me know what you thought. Good or bad. I know it's a little slow starting off, but it will get exciting soon, I promise!


	2. Promises, Promises

NellieBly413672: Glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing. Hope you like this chapter too. (We had the same idea about posting in honor of the anniversary, lol.)

meadow567: Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you like it so far.

rejazzz: Yep, Mark's so cute, I couldn't resist. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter too.

A/N: Here's another chapter! I was going to update tomorrow, but since it's the anniversary of the Miracle, I thought today was appropriate. Anway, enjoy and please review!

Two weeks went by and the guys were enjoying playing hockey and hanging out when they didn't have practice. No one seemed to understand Herb, but that gave them all something in common to talk about at least. Although the team was coming together for the most part, there were still a few issues. Namely, OC's issue with Mac. OC would only associate with guys that were on his side or at the very least, neutral. Anyone that backed Mac up, OC wouldn't talk to.

Mark also saw that Mac was beginning to behave just like OC. Now Mac refused to go near OC, and he constantly complained about him. Mark was getting sick of it, especially since he was Mac's roommate and heard his complaints often.

Finally, one day OC and Mac got the wake up calls they needed. After a very interesting practice which included the guys physically fighting each other, Herb warned them about becoming a team and more or less threatened their spots if they continued acting the way were. After that, Mac and OC still weren't on friendly terms, and they didn't talk to each other, but they stopped avoiding each other completely too, which was a start.

Later that night, the guys were at the bar and OC was the friendliest Mark had ever seen him. It was probably only because Mac wasn't with the group that night though.

"So how many of you are attached to someone back home?" OC asked, trying to start an interesting topic of conversation. About half of the guys said they were. "Wow, more than I would have thought," OC added.

"That isn't really saying that much though, OC. There are only twelve guys here all together," Silky pointed out.

"How about you OC?" Bah asked.

"Yeah right," he said. "You guys apparently don't know me very well." Silky just laughed at OC's comment.

"OC and Silky aren't really the type to be involved in relationships," explained Rizzo.

"Neither am I," said Verchota.

"I mean, eventually I'll probably settle down, but right now I don't need the hassle of a relationship," OC said. "Girls are too much for me to handle. They're so whiny and needy, and frankly, I don't have the time or desire to cater to a girl's needs all the time."

"Amen to that," Verchota said, taking a drink.

A few minutes later, Silky said, "Okay, let's play a game. A game to get to know each other. Someone will pick a topic and then everyone will tell a story about it."

"So what's the game part?" Bah asked.

"Well, I don't know. I guess we'll just do it for fun to tell funny stories and drink while we're at it."

"What's the first topic?" Rizzo asked.

"I got one," OC said. "How did everyone's last relationship end?"

A few guys groaned, as if the topic was a bad choice. Silky started. "Mine's simple. I got bored and dumped her. She always wanted to do activities on our dates," Silky said, like it was unheard of. "Like go bowling, play putt-putt, take walks . . . stuff like that. We could never just go somewhere and make-out, or, you know . . . whatever else might be fun for me."

Bah laughed. "That's why you dumped her? I only wish my last girlfriend was like that. It sounds like your girlfriend was fun. Mine never wanted to do anything. We always just hung out and watched TV or a movie. She never wanted to go anywhere, unless of course it was something really girly, like shopping."

"So basically, you got bored and dumped her too?" Mark concluded.

"No, she dumped me. I still don't know exactly why," Bah replied, now sort of thinking about it.

"Well, my last girlfriend only wanted to go out with me to get with my cousin. After I found out, things didn't work out between us," Verchota said.

"That hurts," said Jimmy.

The rest of the guys told their stories, and then it was down to Mark being the only one left.

"Spill Mark," OC told him.

"My last real relationship sort of just fell apart," Mark said.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you break up. But there must be a reason," OC said.

"Well, for the longest time, we thought we'd be together forever. High school sweethearts and all of that. Then, things happened and we fought constantly, realized it wasn't working, and she left. She was going to the University of Wisconsin with me, and then she packed up and left for California or something. Haven't heard from her since. She didn't say goodbye or anything. I called her house one day, and her parents said she was gone."

"Sounds like she ran off with someone," Silky said.

"She probably did. After we started college, she completely changed anyway, so I guess it was for the best that she left. I could have never been the one that ended things," Mark explained.

"So you didn't date at all in college?" Verchota asked.

"Not really. Here and there I went on a few dates, but nothing came of them. None of the girls wanted as much commitment as I did. I couldn't just date them for a few weeks and have that be it."

"Why not?" Silky said with a laugh. Mark's only response was a shrug.

"Girls are usually the ones that want commitment," OC said. "You were obviously looking at the wrong girls. I'm gonna make it my duty to find you someone over the next seven months."

"Whatever you say, OC," Mark said, thinking OC's was trying to do the impossible. After all, that night, OC had told everyone else that didn't have a girlfriend the same thing he just told Mark. He made a half a dozen promises on finding girls for the single guys there.

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The team continued coming together after that night, and by the end of July most of the guys were on at least somewhat friendly terms. Even OC and Mac seemed to be talking a little here and there. Of course, it was only at practice because they had to, but talking about hockey was still better than nothing. During practices, a forward and defense man were often paired for different drills, and Herb paired Mac and OC more than any other guys were paired together. Everyone knew Herb was trying to tell the two something. Something like "You'll keep being paired up until you're friends." Mark wasn't sure if they didn't get the message, or if they were struggling against it for as long as possible. He had even talked to Mac about it, and he knew Rizzo was trying to get through to OC.

"Do you think Herb will make us do that one on one drill again?" Mark asked Mac casually one morning before they left their room for practice.

"I don't know. But I'm sick of getting paired with OC all the time. It's not good practice anymore, knowing exactly what he's gonna do when I have the puck. And he also knows my backup moves when he counters the first several. It's like we just go through the motions now."

"Well, maybe if you're friendlier to each other, and you let Herb see it, he won't pair you up," Mark suggested.

"I try to be nice."

"Try harder."

"Well, that's easier said than done. He's a jerk," Mac said matter-of-factly. Mark sighed, knowing his and Rizzo's attempts at getting the two to on friendly terms were futile.

Sure enough, practice that day did involve the one on one drill, and Mac and OC were paired together. Rizzo and Mark exchanged a glance wondering if the two would ever learn.

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"Check out those girls over there," Silky said while a handful of the guys on the team were enjoying some drinks at the bar later that night. "They're pretty hot for being Minnesotans."

"Yeah they are," OC said in agreement. "What do you think Bah? Think we have a chance?"

"Maybe. But they're not that hot."

"Well, there's three of them. How about it, Silky? Me, you, and Mark can go over there." Hearing his name, Mark looked at OC, then over to the girls he was talking about. "I don't think so, OC."

"Come on Mark. How do you expect to meet anyone sitting on your ass over here?"

"I don't."

"Come on Mark. Help us, help you, to get laid," Silky said. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Fine. If you don't like them, how about someone else? I'll even let you pick the girl," OC said.

"Well . . . I don't know," Mark said. He really didn't want to deal with meeting a girl and everything that could potentially follow. But if meeting someone would get OC and Silky off his back, it might be worth it. Then again, meeting someone while knowing he'd be leaving in seven months might be good for him. He could have a little fling, and not worry about what would happen seven months down the road, because he'd be gone.

"I know why Mark doesn't want to get laid!" Silky realized, thinking he knew the reason. "I bet he was lying when he said he doesn't have a girlfriend. He probably left her in Wisconsin and feels guilty."

"But why would he not tell us?" Bah pointed out.

"Maybe she's like, really ugly," suggested Christian.

"Or maybe they're ready to break up," said Buzz.

"Or maybe they just got together," said Verchota.

"Or maybe you guys should stop talking about me like I'm not sitting right here," Mark joked. "I don't have a girlfriend," he said seriously.

"Then why don't you want one?" asked Bah.

"Why is everyone so interested?" asked Mark, a little annoyed but trying not to show it. "Christian doesn't have a girlfriend. Harass him."

"But you've admitted you haven't been laid since high school. That's a long time," OC pointed out. "And going long periods of time without sex isn't good for a guy."

"Rizzo admitted to being a virgin," Mark shot back.

"Well, that's in the works. Rizzo has a girlfriend. Besides, he doesn't know what she's missing. And supposedly she wants to wait a while." OC then leaned over toward Mark. "I think he does too, but doesn't want to admit it."

"I heard that," said Rizzo. "And I do not."

"Wait . . . Mark, you're not, gay, are you?" Silky asked, his eyes wide with fear in the anticipation of Mark's answer.

"No, I'm not gay!" Mark said, shocked that Silky got that impression. "I've had plenty of sex, with girls. I'm definitely not gay."

"Okay, okay. Just making sure."

"I'm even willing to bet I've had more sex than you," Mark said to Silky, mainly trying to prove a point. Silky raised his eyebrows. Then, Mark added, "Okay, never mind. But I've done it a lot."

"Well, you haven't done it in a while. Let's find a girl," Silky said.

Clearly Silky wasn't going to give up. "Maybe I lied when I said I haven't done it in a while. If I did, and I told you I had sex a week before I left Wisconsin would you get off my back?" Mark asked.

"No, because I wouldn't believe you. One, you wouldn't have lied in the first place, and two, you clearly said you haven't had a girlfriend since high school. You're not the type to do what I do," Silky said. "You're too quiet and nice." Mark could tell by looking around that the rest of the guys agreed.

"Let's leave him alone," OC said, finally coming to Mark's rescue. "If he doesn't want a girl, let's not force him."

"Thanks OC."

"You're welcome. But don't think you're off the hook. Within the next two weeks, you're going to be going on a date at the very least."

"Fine," Mark said. Who knew? Maybe a date would be fun. It wouldn't hurt to go on one date.

"Who's up next for pool?" Jimmy asked everyone at the table. He and Mac had just finished their game.

"Who won?" asked Silky.

"Me," Jimmy answered.

"In that case, Mark, you're up," Silky announced. It was either Mark or Silky who were going to play in the next game, but Silky wanted to avoid playing Jimmy. Back in Boston, Silky played Jimmy and lost too many times to count, and now avoided playing him at all costs. Mark knew how good Jimmy was too.

"Thanks, Silky," Mark said.

"Yeah, no problem. I try to be nice, letting my friends play first." Mark just rolled his eyes and nodded.

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"Who else thought practice was terrible today?" OC asked while everyone was enjoying a night out bowling. Most of the guys raised their hands in agreement.

"Who else thinks Herb's crazy might be an even better question," Verchota said.

"Yeah, really," said Bah in agreement. Half the time I don't even know what the hell he's talking about. It's like he's on his own planet."

"Do you think we're ready for Europe?" Rizzo asked no one in particular. Their pre-Olympic European tour was a little less than a month away, but they all knew it would be there before they knew it.

"I bet we will be in another couple weeks," Mark replied. "And if we're not, we're gonna have to be ready anyway. We don't have much of a choice."

After talking hockey for a few more minutes, OC and Silky went to get some chicken wings and pitchers of beer.

"I bet they're only hungry and thirsty now because there are some girls up there," Buzz said.

"I don't know," Jimmy said. "Those aren't the types of girls those two usually go for. They're not hot enough."

"Jimmy has a good point," said Rizzo. "The one girl up there is hot enough, but they have a little motto that a hot girl with unattractive friends is just having a good night."

"I think they're all pretty," Christian said, talking about the three girls at the counter.

While the guys were making bets on whether OC and Silky would come back with girls or not, they two guys waited for the food. They didn't even notice the girls standing near them at first, until after two of the three went back to their lane to bowl. The third, who happened to be the prettiest of the three friends, had stayed at the counter to wait for the food they ordered. OC and Silky then noticed the girl standing alone, and they didn't waste any time.

"Hey," OC said, getting the blonde's attention. Her hair was actually a strawberry blonde color, and she was fairly tall and slender. The girl turned around and looked at OC. "How are you doing tonight?" he asked.

"To be honest I was better before you came over here."

"Ouch," Silky said and smirked. OC just glared at Silky. He wasn't used to getting turned down, and the last thing OC wanted was to be humiliated.

"Sorry, I'm just not interested," the girl told him. "You're not my type."

"What's your type?" OC asked, a smile playing on his lips. Now he was really amused.

"Not you, I can already tell. You're the type that treats girls like shit after you get what you want."

"How do you know that? You barely met me."

"Because you have the look. You're a cocky, arrogant, jerk. Am I right?" Silky laughed from his position standing behind OC. OC glared at him before turning back to the girl.

"I'm not like that all the time," he said, beginning to wonder whether it was worth even playing the game he already clearly lost.

"Yeah I know. You're always really nice until the girl sleeps with you," she said sarcastically.

"And are you always like that?" OC asked.

"Like what?" she asked.

"A bitch."

"Nope. Only to guys like you," she said with a smile. "I just know I don't deserve to be treated like shit. What happened once isn't gonna happen again."

"Are you single?" OC asked.

"I already told you that I don't like you. And I don't like your friend either," she said, talking about Silky. "If he's your friend. Personally, I think he's finding your embarrassment way too funny and amusing to be a real friend." With that, Silky's smirk disappeared.

"Well, believe it or not, I was asking for my other friend," OC said. "He's a lot nicer than us."

"I'm not buying it."

"Seriously, he is. He wants commitment," OC said, saying commitment like it was a new word for him.

"Are you football players?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Why?"

"I don't date football players."

"Okay good, because we're hockey players."

"Hockey players! Even worse." OC and Silky raised their eyebrows in shock. Girls loved hockey players.

"Are you from Minnesota?" Silky asked.

"Yeah," she answered.

"And you don't like hockey?" Silky said in disbelief.

"I never said I don't like hockey. I love hockey. I have friends that play hockey. But I would just never date a hockey player." After a few seconds of silence the girl sarcastically added, "I know, it's hard to believe. Being that you guys are so hot and all."

"Well, would you consider one date? This guy's a really nice guy. Not your typical jerky hockey player," OC said.

"Where is he?"

"He's actually the one bowling now," OC said, pointing in the direction of the guys.

"He's cute," she said, after taking a quick survey of him. "Are you sure he's not like you though?"

"He's not. How about it?"

"Well . . . "

"Come on. You know you want to," OC said, trying to tempt her. She was ready to give in.

"No," she finally answered firmly. "I really can't." OC sighed.

"Fine."

"But . . . my friend would go on a date," the girl said almost hesitantly, as if she shouldn't be offering for her friend.

"Who's your friend?"

"She over there," the girl said, pointing to where two brunettes were standing. The girl continued, describing her friend. "The one with the wavyish brown hair, not the straight hair. She would go on a date."

"All right," OC said, shrugging. He based his reply off two criteria. The girl wasn't hot enough for OC to want, but he supposed she was pretty enough for Mark. As described, she had long brown hair with loose curls. She a somewhere between short and average height and she had a little bigger build than her friend. Not that she was heavy, but just solid compared to her friends.

"What are your names by the way?" the girl then asked.

"You can call me OC."

"I'm Silky."

"I'm not gonna ask where those names came from," the girl said before introducing herself. "I'm Maggie."

"Well, Maggie, they're nicknames. It's what the guys on the team all call us. Since you've made it clear you will never see us as worthy of you, you can call us by our last names."

"Pepperoni pizza," the guy working at the counter called out, setting the pizza down.

"Well, that's mine," Maggie said. "I have to get back to my friends. How are we gonna do this?" she asked, meaning the date.

"Well, Mark's available tomorrow night. How about Mark and . . . " OC left the sentence trailing, wanting to get Maggie's friend's name.

"Hannah. She should be free. And if she's not, she will be," Maggie said smiling.

"Is this a blind date?" Silky wondered out loud.

"Yeah," both Maggie and OC answered.

"Mark's gonna kill you," Silky warned him.

"Hannah's gonna kill me," Maggie said, laughing a little.

After making plans for Mark and Hannah to meet at a restaurant near campus, the guy's food was ready and Maggie went back to her friends and OC and Silky went back to theirs.

"So how many numbers did you get this time?" Rizzo asked them.

"None. But we did meet someone," OC replied.

"Who is it now?"

"She's not for either of us." A few of the guys looked shocked.

"She's for Mark," Silky explained. "And for the record I had nothing to do with it."

"What?" Mark asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"You're going on a date tomorrow night."

"No, I'm not."

"That's where you're wrong my friend. I already have it all planned out."

"Do I have to?" Mark asked.

"Well, I made you a promise, didn't I?"

"You sure delivered on that, OC. I never thought you'd actually get Magic a date," Bah commented.

After a good ten minutes of arguing, Mark finally gave in. After all, OC said that the only way of backing out was to stand her up, because he didn't have a phone number. Mark was too nice to stand a girl up. Especially one that was in the same boat as him. He thought the girl might even be reacting the same way as he was.

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"You did not!" the girl said to her friend in disbelief.

"I did," she replied.

"I don't believe you!" Then, she joked, "I thought we were friends."

"We are. And that's exactly why I did it. You need to get out more."

"Did you know about this Kristine?"

"No, I swear I didn't know. But I'm sure you'll have fun, Hannah."

Hannah wanted to believe her friends, but she wasn't so sure. A blind date could be disastrous. Not that she had any other options. She hadn't been on a date in almost longer than she could remember, so a blind date was better than nothing; it couldn't hurt. But she was still a little unsure. Maggie didn't even meet the guy she was going out with. One of the guy's friends set it up. What if the guy was a complete jerk? Or what if he was totally repulsive and she couldn't stand him? With her luck, the date definitely wouldn't go well.

"Hannah, it's going to be what you make of it. If you go in thinking it will be awful, it will be," Maggie told her, pulling her from her thoughts.

"You said he was cute, right?" Kristine asked Maggie.

"Yeah, he's pretty cute."

"I'm more worried about what he'll be like," Hannah said. "Like, his personality."

"Well, his friend said he's a nice guy."

"Then why is he single?" Hannah asked rhetorically.

"Not all guys have girlfriends all the time."

"The cute and nice ones are always taken though," Hannah pointed out. "Something has to be wrong with him."

"Too bad. You're going." Hannah just rolled her eyes and knew she wasn't getting out of it.


	3. Blind Date

NellieBly413672: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it! OC and Silky are going to have more funny moments in future chapters. I hope you like this one too!

rejazzzz: Thanks. OC and Silky are going to have more times like that too. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you like this one too!

meadow567: Well, here's the date chapter. I'm not making any promises on what happens, but I can promise that no matter who Mark ends up with, there will be drama!! I hope you like this one too.

A/N: Here's another chapter! It's the blind date. It's sort of funny because I went on a blind date two weeks ago or so, and mine was nothing at all like the one in this chapter. Not in the least. This the date part was also written before I went on the date, so my experience had no bearing on this. Anyway, you'll see whether that's a good or bad thing soon enough, lol. Anyway, enjoy and please review! Oh yeah . . . today's my birthday, and a bunch of reviews would be a great present! Hint, hint (I'm the big 21!!!)

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The next afternoon after practice, a lot of the guys insisted on helping Mark get ready for his date.

"I'm fully capable of picking out my own clothes," Mark told them trying to explain he didn't need assistance getting ready.

"But this is a blind date. The first impression is everything and I don't want her to get the wrong idea," OC explained.

"The wrong idea? Do you think I'm that helpless? That I can't even get ready for a casual date? The only reason I'm even going is because I don't want to stand her up. Especially after you told her friend about what a nice guy I was."

"Exactly. I don't want you doing anything to purposely sabotage your chances," OC explained. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Magic, don't lie. I know you're looking forward to it," Mac said from the other side of the room. He had been pretty quiet until then. "You told me."

"He did?" OC asked, surprised.

"Yeah, this morning. He told me that he thought going on a date might be fun."

"I did not!"

"Yeah ya did."

"You know what? I believe you, Mac. I bet he did say that," OC said, now taking Mac's side for the first time ever. Bah commented on it.

"It must really be the apocalypse . . . Magic's going on a date, and OC and Mac agreed on something!" Mark rolled his eyes and OC and Mac just pretended not to hear Bah. Neither wanted any of the guys to think they were friends, especially when they weren't. Merely agreeing on something didn't make them friends.

An hour later, Mark finally succeeded in getting everyone but his roommate to leave the room so he could finish getting ready alone. It was about time.

"I bet you'll have fun, Magic."

"I don't know. A blind date could be disastrous."

"Or it could be great. My parents met on a blind date."

"So. I don't even know this girl."

"Hence, the term, blind date," Mac exasperated.

"I know. But what if she's like . . . I don't know."

"See, you can't even think of anything that could possibly be wrong with her."

"Well, I can . . . I just . . . " Mark trailed off.

"But nothing that's so bad that you wouldn't survive one date."

"I guess you're right."

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At five minutes to seven, Mark walked in the restaurant where they were meeting. She was supposed to be waiting at the bar. Right away, he saw a girl that looked like what OC described. He guessed it was Hannah.

"Excuse me, are you waiting for someone?" Mark asked, taking a seat next to her.

"Uh, yeah. My date," was the girl's reply.

"Are you Hannah?"

"Yeah." After looking at Mark a minute, she said, "He's not coming, is he?"

"What?" Mark asked, confused.

"The guy I'm supposed to be meeting. You're his friend, telling me he can't make it, aren't you?"

"Uh, no," Mark answered, still confused. What would have given her that impression?

"My friend promised me that I was going on a date with a nice guy. That was the only reason I agreed. If you're here to take his place, sorry but no thanks. She already told me that his other friend was a jerk."

"Why do you think I'm the other friend?" Mark asked, not knowing whether he really wanted the answer.

"She said how hot you were. She told me, and I quote, 'You're going on a date with a really nice guy. His friends are hot jerks, but they promised their friend was really nice, even if he wasn't as cute.' So anyway, if you're the hot but jerky friend, I'm not interested."

"What if I told you I was the nice guy?" Mark asked, handing her some flowers that he picked up on the way over.

"Then I think I made a complete fool of myself," Hannah said, smiling and blushing.

"So, you think I'm hot?" Hannah's face turned a darker shade of red. "How about I let it slide? We'll start over and pretend that whole thing didn't happen." Mark took the flowers back. "Excuse me, are you waiting for someone?" Hannah smiled. She liked Mark.

"Yeah, my date," she replied.

"Are you Hannah?"

"Yes. Are you Mark?" she asked with a smile, playing along.

"Yeah. These are for you," he said, handing her the flowers.

"Thank you."

"Do you want to get a table?" Mark asked her.

"Sure."

The two were seated and chatted while they looked over the menus. Mark thought Hannah was nice. She seemed like a fun person and sort of reminded him of his ex, Rebecca, in a way. That wasn't a bad thing though, because Hannah reminded him of the old Becky, the Becky he knew before college. Hannah seemed really down to earth and like a fun person to be around. From her simple outfit and the little makeup she wore, it was apparent that she didn't try too hard to impress people either. Mark hated when girls wore tons of makeup and dressed for weather 20 degrees hotter than it actually was.

"So are you from Minnesota?" Mark asked.

"No, I'm actually from New Jersey. I moved to Minnesota when I was nine. How about you?"

"I was born here but grew up in Wisconsin. I'm just here playing hockey right now."

"Do you go to school here?"

"No, I went to the University of Wisconsin. I came here to play because I was invited to the Olympic tryouts."

"That's awesome. So you're trying out for the 1980 Olympic team?"

"Well, I actually already made it," Mark explained, then added, "The first cut at least."

"Well, congratulations. That's awesome."

"Thanks. So, are you still in school?" Mark asked. Hannah shook her head.

"I graduated last year. Now I'm just getting my Masters."

"In what?" Mark asked.

"Elementary Education. I just found out this morning that I got a job I interviewed for last week. So in September I'll be starting out as a second grade teacher."

"That's awesome. Congratulations to you too."

"Thanks," Hannah replied with a smile.

"You must like kids if you're going to be a teacher," Mark assumed.

"Yeah, I love kids," Hannah said. A minute later, she asked, "So, what's a guy like you doing on a blind date? Since I've already made it pretty clear you're good looking . . . " Hannah trailed off, trying to make light of the awkward moment she caused earlier.

"Well, my friends thought I needed a date. They've been trying to set me up since June. Finally I gave in, figuring that maybe they'll get tired of bugging me if I went on a date. I could be asking you the same question though."

"I guess my friend thought the same. It's kind of understandable though. I haven't had a boyfriend in three years now, and her ultimate goal is to get me a boyfriend." Hannah paused for a minute, trying to decide whether to say what she was thinking. Finally she did. "I don't think you'd have that problem though, being a good looking hockey player. In high school and college, girls did anything they could to hook up with hockey players, and of course the guys didn't mind the attention. Aren't girls practically throwing themselves at you?"

Mark laughed at the idea before answering. "No. And even if they were, I don't want that kind of girl."

Mark and Hannah continued to talk and get to know each other through dinner. They sort of played twenty questions, asking each other everything from their favorite vacation to their most embarrassing moment.

"Okay, so do you have any pets?" Mark asked.

"I sort of have a dog." Mark gave Hannah a questioning look that asked how she could sort of have a dog, so she explained. "It's at my parent's house. My landlord would evict me if I had the dog in there."

"Oh, so what's its's name?"

"Well, it's a chocolate lab . . . and it's name is Chocolate," Hannah replied, laughing a little at the irony.

"How original," Mark joked.

"I know. I'm so creative. So, what was your favorite toy when you were a kid?" Hannah asked.

"Umm . . . " Mark said, trying to think. "I know! I had this little red fire truck that I loved. I took it everywhere. Some kids have bears, but I had this fire truck. One time, I snuck it in with me to church. Then I took it out during the priest's homily and wheeled it around on the pew, making distinct siren noises. I was quiet, but my mom could hear me and she completely freaked. When we got home, I was in so much trouble. She took the fire truck away for a week."

Hannah laughed at Mark's story. "How old were you?"

"Like four or five. And I still remember how furious she was. To this day, I don't think she's ever been more angry. And trust me, I did a lot of other things later in life that she should have been even more angry with."

"That's so funny. Did you want to be a firefighter or something?"

"Yeah, I actually did. I wanted to slide down the little pole thing and drive really fast with sirens," Mark said, smiling. "Then I found out that firefighters had to actually fight fires, and go into burning buildings, and I changed my mind."

This made Hannah laugh a little more. "That's why I love kids and wanted to be a teacher," she said. "They're so naive and innocent. And the things they think and say are too cute."

After dinner, Mark and Hannah went to play mini golf and enjoyed that as well. Mark won all three games, even though he tried to let Hannah win a game. She wasn't very good at mini golf.

"You probably think I'm totally uncoordinated and unathletic," Hannah said, getting ready to putt. "I'm already two above par on this hole, and I'm probably close to 30 above par for the sixteen holes we've played." Mark looked at the score card he was holding.

"Actually, you're only 22 above par," Mark told her.

"That's probably my record low," Hannah joked. "Here I am with an amazing hockey player, and I admit that I have no athletic talent whatsoever."

"Well, at least you seem to be having fun," Mark said.

"I am. I do love trying to play sports."

"You know what you're talking about too at least, so you obviously have some knowledge."

"Yeah, I know the rules and how to play. The way I see it, when you're not good at playing, the better you know the rules, at least you can cheat your way to a few victories," Hannah said with a triumphant smile.

At the end of the night Mark and Hannah walked back to the restaurant where their cars were parked.

"I had fun tonight, Mark. Thanks," Hannah told him before she got in her car.

"Me too. I have to admit I was a little hesitant at first, but I'm glad I came." An awkward silence followed and Mark and Hannah both just stood there for a minute.

"Well, I should get going," Hannah finally said.

"Yeah. Bye Hannah." Mark didn't know whether to ask her out again or just leave things where they were. He didn't want to lead her on, but he did have fun. Just as Hannah was about to get in her car, Mark stopped her. "Look, Hannah . . . I honestly meant it when I said I had fun. I don't know if anything can really come of this though."

"I figured that," Hannah said. From what Mark told her before, Hannah could tell he was really cautious about jumping into things.

"I mean, I like you. But I don't want to be together for seven months and then just end things either. It's not fair to you, and it's not fair to me either. Going into the date, I actually thought I might be able to have a little seven-month fling. If most of the guys on the team can do it, why couldn't I, ya know? But, I like you and don't want to hurt you like that."

"I know. Knowing things will have to end in seven months just doesn't make sense. Why start something when breaking up is inevitable, right?"

"Yeah, especially when we're both the type to take things a bit slower to begin with," Mark said, happy that Hannah agreed.

"Well, we did have fun tonight," Hannah said. "Hanging out and having fun doesn't mean we have to date. How about we just hang out as friends?" she suggested.

"I like that idea. Just friends," Mark said with a smile.

"Good. Well, you better take my number then. We can't be friends if we can't call each other to hang out." Hannah scribbled her phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Mark. Once Hannah got in her car, Mark waved before she drove away and then left himself.

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Mark got back to the dorms that night to find that most of the guys were either out or in their own rooms. Luckily OC wasn't around because if he was, Mark knew he would grill him about the date. Unfortunately, the questions came anyway. The second he walked in his room, Mac started on him.

"You're home early."

"Not really," Mark said, looking at the clock. It was eleven.

"And you're alone?" Mac asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah."

"Was it awful?" Mac asked, more assuming than asking though.

"No. I had fun."

"Was she ugly?"

"No," Mark responded, laughing a little. Where some people got their ideas, he'd never know. "She was pretty."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because the date's over," Mark answered in a duh tone.

"You didn't invite her here? She didn't invite you to her place?" Mac asked, confused.

"Not all people do it on their first date," Mark told him.

"What did you guys do?" Mac asked. Then, "Are you sure you had fun?"

"Yeah. We're going to hang out more often."

"Hang out?" Mac asked. Mac thought "hanging out" meant they weren't dating.

"Yeah, like two friends, hanging out."

"So the date wasn't all that great, I assume," Mac said.

"No, I already told you, it was."

"But you're not going on another. You're just going to be friends. Unless . . . you plan on being _'just friends'_," Mac said, making air quotes and insinuating that they couldn't really be just friends.

"No, we're really going to be just friends. We know it'll be hard to end a real relationship in seven months, but if we're just friends it'll be easier. And long distance friendships are easier that long distance relationships."

"Okay whatever. I give it three weeks tops though. After that you'll be more than just friends."

"Okay Mac. Whatever you say," Mark said, in a tone that said, 'I don't believe you.'

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Okay, I hope you all liked it. Now please hit that little button and review! (Even if you hated it, at least wish me a happy birthday!) )


	4. See You Again

NellieBly413672: I think you're onto something with the "just friends" things... Thanks for the reviews and the b-day wishes! I hope you like this one too!

meadow567: Thanks for the review and the b-day wishes! I had an awesome birthday. And happy belated birthday to you too! Thanks again and enjoy.

A/N: Here's another. I hope everyone likse it. The chapter after this one won't be up until St. Patrick's Day at the earliest because I'm going to Florida for the week. Perfect timing too because there's a snowstorm going on as I'm writing this... Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow morning, and I won't be home until the following Sunday. So I just to let you know that there won't be the usual update next weekend. Enjoy the chapter!

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A week after Mark and Hannah's date, Mark and a bunch of the guys were going out and Mark decided to invite Hannah and have her bring a couple friends. For the past week the guys, especially OC and Silky, were bugging Mark to meet Hannah. When Mark told them about the date, they had a similar reaction to Mac's. Neither could believe that the date ended like it did. Mark on the other hand, didn't see anything wrong with the way the date ended, but he was just a different type of guy than OC and Silky were. Their idea of treating a girl with respect was paying for the date everyone once in a while, or as Jimmy joked, providing and using a condom.

That night was finally the night Hannah was going to meet the guys though. Mark figured that if they were friends, Hannah might as well get to know the other guys too. Besides, a big group of people, including girls, was usually more fun than just guys anyway.

"When's Hannah getting here?" Verchota asked.

"She should be here soon," Mark said.

"Are her friends hot and available?"

"I don't know," Mark said, annoyed because that was probably the tenth time he heard that question.

"The one that I talked to was," OC said. "But she's not interested in us."

"Us or you?" Bah asked, then continued. "Just because she doesn't like you, it doesn't mean she won't like me or Verchota, or someone else."

"No, she won't like you either," OC said matter-of-factly. "Let's face it . . . I'm the best looking guy here, and if she's not attracted to me, then how do you and especially Verchota, stand a chance."

"Hey! I take offense to that," Verchota said.

"Just let Mr. 'I have a bigger ego than a football stadium' think what he wants," Bah said. "He's obviously arrogant, cocky, conceited, and self-absorbed." OC gave Bah an evil look, but didn't say anything.

"Hannah's here," Mark said, seeing her walk in the door with her friends. He waved to her to get her attention. "Hey Hannah."

"Hey, Mark. These are my friends, Maggie and Kristine."

"Hey," Mark said.

"Hey ladies," Verchota said. "How are you doing on this fine night?"

Maggie and Kristine exchanged glances that said more than enough. Then they laughed.

"Let's go get some drinks," Kristine told Maggie.

"They want me," Verchota said a minute later, seeing the two girls at the bar. He gave them a nod, and the two friends just started laughing a little.

"I hate to break it to you, but they're not laughing because they think you're hot," Hannah started. She didn't want to tell the guy that her friends were laughing at him.

"Why are they smiling then?" Verchota asked.

"They're laughing at you, you dope," Silky told him.

"Hannah, this is Silky, that's OC, and that's Verchota," Mark said, introducing her to the guys that were standing right there.

After the initial introductions, Mark and Hannah walked around so Mark could introduce her to the rest of the guys.

"And last but not least, this is Rizzo, and this is my roommate, Mac," Mark said, introducing her to the guys that were now playing darts.

"Is there going to be a quiz later?" Hannah asked, knowing there were way too many names for her to remember.

"Eh, no. I'll let you off the hook tonight," Mark told her.

A few minutes later, Hannah and Mark decided to go back over to the table where OC, Silky, Maggie, Kristine, Verchota, and Bah were all sitting. There were still two seats left at their table. Mark was just hoping that OC and Silky wouldn't say anything to completely embarrass him. Luckily there wasn't much time for that, because Bah wanted to get the group started on a game of something.

"Who wants to play darts or foosball?" he asked.

"I'll play something," Hannah's friend, Kristine said. "I don't care what."

"I'll play something too," Hannah said.

"Me too. I'm getting bored sitting here," said Maggie.

"I think I want to play too," Verchota said immediately, because all three girls were playing.

The three girls, Bah, and Verchota ended up playing foosball. Mac beat Rizzo in their dart game a minute later, so now Mark was going to play Mac. The rest of the guys stayed at the table and by this time, a few of the other guys had joined them.

"Well, Hannah and her friends are nice," Jimmy commented. "It'll be nice hanging out with some girls occasionally."

"Yeah, who ever would have thought hanging out with girls, just because, would be fun. I mean, I haven't even thought about sleeping with any of them yet," Silky said, halfway joking. "But seriously, it's weird because I don't think I've ever had a completely platonic relationship with a girl. I don't have an ulterior motive with them or anything."

"Yet," Buzz commented.

"I don't even see it happening in the future."

"Well, if you change your mind, don't take Hannah. Magic's already got dibs on her," Buzz warned him. He looked over to where Mark and Hannah were now standing and talking, each waiting for their turns on their respective games. "I think they would make a cute couple," Buzz then said about the two.

"Who would have thought that OC would turn out to be a matchmaker?" Rizzo asked no one in particular.

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Later that night, Hannah and her friends talked about their night in the car on the way home.

"So, what did you two think?" Hannah asked.

"That one guy was hilarious . . . the way he was trying to get in our pants all night," Kristine said.

"The guy with the big head?" Maggie asked from the backseat.

"Yeah, I guess he had a big head. I just thought he looked a little goofy in general."

"I didn't mean what you thought about Verchota," Hannah interrupted, rolling, assuming that was who they were talking about. "I wasn't talking about the other guys either. I was wondering what you thought about Mark."

"He's nice," Kristine said. "And pretty cute."

"He's quiet," Maggie chimed in.

"I like that he's not the typical loud, obnoxious, jerky hockey player," Hannah said.

"Then go for it. I think he seems like a good guy," Kristine told her.

"Go for what exactly?" Hannah asked.

"Well . . . whatever," Maggie said, shrugging.

"I think we're just going to be friends," Hannah said.

"How boring."

"Hannah, you need a reality check," Maggie told her. "Mark is a hot, seemingly nice, available hockey player. And you're the same, minus the hockey player part."

Hannah jumped in, interrupting Maggie. "And minus the hot. I'm not hot."

"You need to give yourself more credit. And you two will totally be fooling yourselves if you think you're just going to be friends."

The more Hannah insisted being just friends wasn't that hard, the more her friends gave her a hard time. Finally, Hannah tried to change the subject.

"So, let's talk about the other guys instead," Hannah said. "Did either of you see anyone with any potential?"

"Potential if I wanted a one night stand. Definitely not dateable though," Maggie said, with Kristine nodding in agreement. "But I thought you said the issue was Mark. You didn't want to discuss the other guys."

"Well, now I do."

"We don't. We like talking about Mark," Maggie told her. Hannah sighed and couldn't wait to get back to her apartment. She really liked Mark, but as a friend. Sure he was cute, and a really nice guy in general, but nothing could happen between them. And Hannah was totally fine with just being friends. Her friends just didn't seem to get it.

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Two weeks later, the guys were enjoying their last night in Minnesota before leaving for Europe in the morning. Everyone basically did their own thing though, and Mark opted to spend a little time with Hannah. They went to see the new movie, "The Amityville Horror".

"So did you like it, Hannah?" Mark asked as they left the theater and walking toward the lobby.

"I loved it!"

"You didn't think it was scary?"

"Yeah, it was scary . . . but that's the reason I liked it." Mark laughed. Hannah was something else.

"I liked it too," Mark said.

"Sure you weren't too scared? I looked over a couple times, and you looked scared," Hannah teased him. Mark played along.

"Yeah, I was so petrified, I almost had to have you hold my hand."

"That's what I thought," Hannah said, laughing.

Mark looked at his watch and noticed it was still pretty early. "Want to go see another movie?"

"Sure, which one?" Hannah asked. Mark turned to his left and saw the sign above another theater. It was the movie "Rock 'n' Roll High School."

"How about that," he said, pointing to the sign. "It starts in ten minutes. I know it's not a scary one, but it looked funny."

"I like funny movies too. I'll buy the tickets for this one though," Hannah added. Mark had paid for the last movie, so she wanted to pay this time.

"No you won't," Mark told her.

"Mark, I'm not letting you pay again. If you don't let me pay, I won't go."

"Well, you're not paying, but neither am I. We're gonna sneak in." Hannah's eyes went wide.

"Are you serious?" Hannah asked. Mark nodded. "I never thought of you as the kind of guy to sneak into movies," she said. Hannah wasn't against the idea, but the thought just never occurred to her.

"Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me then," Mark replied. "I'm a good guy, but I like a little adventure sometimes too. Come on, let's go. If we hurry, no one will see us." Hannah reluctantly followed Mark quickly into the theater.

Halfway through the movie, Hannah leaned over to Mark.

"I'm glad you talked me into sneaking in to this one. It's a good movie," she whispered.

"Yeah. And I told you we wouldn't get caught," Mark whispered back.

"It sounds like you're pretty experienced with sneaking in movies."

"I've done it enough. And I've never gotten caught."

Mark and Hannah then went back to watching the movie, but unfortunately for them, Mark spoke his last words too soon. An usher came down the aisle to their seats and shined a flashlight at them.

"Can I see your ticket stubs please?"

"Uh, sure. Hold on," Mark said. He reached in his pockets, pretending to be looking for ticket stubs he didn't have. Hannah completely froze and didn't know what to do. She just looked at Mark, hoping he could think of something fast.

"I'll need to see yours too," the usher told Hannah. She began searching her pockets too, even though there was nothing in there.

"Here it is," Mark said, pulling out the ticket stub from the last movie. It was worth a try.

"And yours miss?"

"Uh, I don't know what happened to it. I had it in my pocket . . . "

The usher then looked at the stub Mark handed him. "This isn't to this movie," he said, in a loud whisper. "Both of you come with me."

Mark and Hannah followed the usher out of the theater, exchanging a glance as they went.

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't understand," Mark said once they were out of the theater, pretending to be confused.

"This ticket stub is to a different movie."

"What?" Mark said, in the best surprised voice he could manage.

"Don't play dumb. A patron gave us a tip that you two snuck in. She overheard you talking."

"I think she was mistaken. We paid for the tickets."

"I could call the police and have you arrested," the usher threatened.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry. We did sneak in to that one. But I'll pay for the tickets. Just don't call the cops," Mark said.

"Yeah, you will pay for the tickets," the usher said, holding out his hand. Mark handed him enough money for both him and Hannah.

"I'm sorry again. We'll just go back in and enjoy the rest of the movie, and we'll never do that again," Mark said as Hannah nodded in agreement.

"No, you're not going back in. You're being removed from the building."

"But I paid for the tickets. Can't we see the end?"

"No. You're leaving now." Mark decided not to argue anymore, and him and Hannah left the theater.

When they were finally outside, Hannah began laughing.

"What's so funny? We almost got arrested," Mark said, trying to sound serious and angry, although Hannah knew he thought it was funny too.

"Okay, that usher was not going to call the cops. It was an empty threat. But, Mr. I Never Get Caught Sneaking in Movies, how does it feel?" she said as they started walking down the street.

Mark playfully elbowed her, while laughing. "I'm surprised. I really never expected to get caught. And thrown out at that!"

"At first, I didn't know what to think . . . and by the time you were handing over the money, I was holding back laughter," Hannah said.

"Now we don't know how it ended," Mark complained, talking about the movie.

"I guess we'll have to go see it when you get back. Maybe we'll pay for it this time," Hannah teased him.

"Good idea."

"Oh yeah, and I'm still paying for that movie. You're not off the hook."

"I'm not taking your money. It was completely my fault for what happened."

"So, you paid for the first one."

"Fine. You have a point. But how about you pay for ice cream instead? There's an ice cream shop at the next corner."

"Okay, I can deal with that," Hannah said.

After they ate their ice cream it was getting late, so Mark took Hannah home. He needed to be up early and wanted to get some sleep.

"I had a lot of fun, Mark," Hannah told him before getting out of the car.

"Me too," Mark said with a smile. "What an adventure it was!"

"That's for sure." They both smiled, thinking about the theater incident. "Thanks again," Hannah then said.

"I'll get you almost arrested anytime." They both smiled again and Hannah got out of the car.

"Good luck in Europe!"

"Thanks Hannah. See you in two weeks." Mark waited until Hannah was in her apartment and then pulled away and headed back to the dorms. He was going to miss hanging out with Hannah the next two weeks. _Or I might just miss her in general, _he thought. He shook his head a little, wondering what in the world he was thinking.

Hannah got inside her apartment and changed into her pajamas before sitting down to watch a little TV before bed. She realized that she was really going to miss Mark the next two weeks. Just as those thoughts entered her head, she pushed them away. _I'm going to miss hanging out with Mark. Not Mark himself. Right? _Hannah was totally unconvinced though. If she didn't know any better, Hannah might almost think she was developing a little crush.


	5. Blinded by Love

NellieBly413672: Thanks for the review! I've snuck into movies before too, and luckily, like you, I've never gotten caught. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

meadow567: Glad you liked it. I never really knew what would happen if someone got caught so I just sort of made it up. (Let's pretend the usher did take the money to the register.) Hope you like this chapter too.

A/N: Here's another chapter as promised. I'm really surprised I got it up so fast after getting home. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys it. I would also love a few more reviews . . . I don't expect everyone to review every chapter, but a few from different people each time are nice. Oh yeah, and the drama really builds in the next chapter! It should be up this coming weekend sometime. Oh yeah, Happy St. Patty's Day! (Especially to everyone that's actually Irish, like me!)

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Early the morning after Mark and Hannah went to the movies, the team left for Europe, where they were playing a total of ten games against the Holland, Finland, and Norway National teams. Everyone was pretty excited to go because most had never been to Europe before, and they were also looking forward to seeing what their several weeks of hard practicing had actually accomplished.

After arriving in Holland, the guys had a full day to relax and recuperate from the jet lag. They played their first game the next evening, which they won, followed by another game two nights later, which they also won. The next several days they spent in Finland, playing different teams and they ended up doing pretty well, losing only a couple of games. Herb wasn't upset with those loses because he switched up lines and did things differently each game, trying to see if anything new clicked. By the time the team made their way to Norway for the last two games of the European tour, they were physically and mentally drained, and everyone wanted to be back in Minnesota.

"Ya know, I never thought I'd say this, but I kinda want to go back to Minnesota," OC said as everyone was suiting up for their game. "I'm sick of not understanding anyone, ordering food that I can't pronounce, sleeping in crappy hotel beds, site seeing, not having anything to do because I don't speak whatever language they speak in . . . wait, what country are we in again?"

"Norway," Silk reminded him.

"Oh yeah, Norway." OC continued.

"So the majority of the problem is the weird Germanish sounding languages?" Bah asked.

"Yeah, I agree," said Verchota. "It's really hard to find a date when you can't talk to each other."

"That's funny, I didn't think you did much talking on dates Verchota," Mac joked.

"Well, I don't. But they need to at least understand pickup lines."

"However lame yours might be," added Buzz.

Coach Patrick walked in the locker room and told the guys they should hurry up and finish getting ready. They had to be ready to go in five minutes.

Five minutes later, the guys were ready with their equipment on, but their heads weren't. They just weren't into the game that night, for various reasons, and it reflected in their play. The game ended in a tie, and though the guys weren't happy with their loss, they knew it wasn't too big a deal. After all, it was one game and it had been a long two weeks.

The guy's thinking was far different from Herb's however, who was very upset with the team's performance. He ordered Craig to get a whistle and have the guys line up. Complaints came from the guys as they had to go back on the ice. All they wanted to do was go back to their rooms and get some rest, play their last game tomorrow, and go home.

Instead, they skated, and skated. Even after the rink manager turned off the lights and left they kept skating. Everyone was praying the torture would end soon. A few of the guys began thinking they might not make it much longer. They were on the verge of collapsing. It was Rizzo's words that finally got them out of skating. Hearing Rizzo announce that he played for the "United States of America" made the whole team realize what Herb was looking for. He wanted them to play as a team. Win or lose, Herb wanted them to play together.

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A few days after the guys got back from Europe, Mark called Hannah to say hi because he hadn't seen her in so long. Mac kept insisting that Mark had a crush on Hannah, but Mark knew he didn't. He just liked hanging out with her. She was fun, and always smiling, and nice. It wasn't a crush though. Mark thought she was pretty too, but they were really just friends. Mark invited her to the bar that night to meet up with him and some of the other guys.

"Hey Mark. How was Europe?" Hannah asked when she arrived at the bar, walking up to him and giving him a big hug. "Hey everybody," she then added, to the rest of the guys.

"Hey Hannah," most of them replied, all of them noticing the hug Hannah gave Mark. They all knew they liked each other.

"Europe was good," Mark answered. "For the most part. Except when we played Norway. That was terrible."

"Herb skated us for what seemed like forever after the game," Bah explained. "He was pissed."

"Yeah, then Rizzo saved us," Verchota jumped in. "If he didn't speak up when he did, we'd probably still be skating." Hannah laughed a little at Verchota's joke.

"We were all so sore after," said OC.

"Speaking of which . . . do you know any good masseuses?" Mac asked Hannah.

"Um, no. Why?"

"We're looking into hiring one."

"Do you mean you guys or the coach?"

"Herb would never hire one," Mac said. "_We_ want to hire someone." Hannah laughed.

"Sorry, but I don't know one," she said.

"Are you good at giving massages?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" pressed Mac.

"I don't know," Hannah answered, shrugging.

A little while later, Maggie and Kristine came by to hang out with the group. Everyone spent the night talking, drinking, and playing pool and darts, all having a lot of fun.

"I'm so gonna win," Hannah said during a game of pool. She was playing against Mark and Bah.

"_We're_ gonna win," Mac corrected. He was on her team.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," Bah warned. "You could easily lose."

"Only if I scratch," Hannah said. "And it's an easy shot. I shouldn't," she added. Hannah shot, and ended up scratching anyway. "Damn it."

"Spoke too soon," said Bah.

"Ugh. I was doing pretty good this game too," Hannah said. "Sorry Mac."

"Don't worry about it. We weren't playing for money or anything."

Mark walked up behind Hannah and squeezed her shoulders a little. "I think you let me win."

"Do you think I felt bad that you lost every other game tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I didn't. I just suck at pool." Hannah yawned. "And I'm tired. It's been a long day. Teaching seven and eight year olds for seven hours a day isn't as easy as it may seem."

"Want me to drive you home?" Mark asked. Hannah had walked to the bar because she only lived a block away.

"You don't have to do that. Thanks though."

"Well you're not walking alone. I'm at least walking with you."

"Fine. You can drive me then," Hannah said, giving in. Mark smiled. He knew she would give in.

Mark drove to her apartment to drop her off.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Hannah asked before getting out of the car.

"Sure, what?"

"My brother's birthday is next week and I got him a North Stars jersey. I didn't know what size though, so I got two different ones. He's about the same size as you though. Would you mind trying it on for me?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Do you want to come up now? I have them in my apartment."

"Yeah sure." Mark parked the car and walked up with Hannah to her apartment. "It smells really good in here," he commented. "Like something Italian."

"It's baked ziti."

"It's making me hungry."

"You're more than welcome to try some. I think it's pretty good."

"Do you like cooking?" Mark asked.

"Yeah. I cook all the time. I love baking too, and eating the stuff I make," Hannah said with a laugh. "Which is probably a bad thing too, because diabetes runs in my family. My mom's always telling me to watch it with the food."

"I think I'll try some pasta if you don't mind. I'm sort of hungry and I'll have to see for myself how good it is."

"Okay, I'll heat some up. Make yourself at home," Hannah said, and motioned to the living room. Hannah went into the kitchen to reheat the pasta. When it was done, she brought it in, handed it to Mark, and took a seat on the couch nearby.

"Mmm. This is really good, Hannah. We should think about hiring you to cook instead of hiring a masseuse."

"Thanks," Hannah replied.

"I like your apartment," Mark said, looking around the living room as he ate. "It seems like a nice size."

"Yeah, I like it," Hannah said, shrugging. "It's a nice size seeing as I live alone."

"So, who are the pictures of?" Mark asked, looking over at pictures that were on Hannah's mantle.

"Well, the one on the end is me and my sister, Lindsay. The next one is me with my mom and dad. Then me, Lindsay and Patrick . . . Patrick's my brother. Next is with Maggie and Kristine, and the last is a picture of the kindergarten class I student taught for last year. The picture was an end of the year gift."

"That's nice," Mark said, about the picture. "Do you only have two siblings then?"

"Yeah, I'm the oldest. Patrick's a year younger than me and Lindsay's three years younger."

"Wow, you guys all look about the same age. Lindsay almost looks like she could be your twin," Mark said, walking over to the picture to get a better look.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Hannah said, groaning a little. "I was always jealous because Lindsay's always looked at least my age or older than me. I know it's partly because she's taller than me, but I hated it because people always that I was the youngest." Hannah paused for a minute, then added, "Actually, I still hate it."

"You're not that short," Mark said, not knowing what else to say.

"It's not just that though. Lindsay looks older too. She just has an older . . . look to her," Hannah explained, not quite being able to describe it.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I guess it'll be nice when you're both older and people think you're younger."

"Yeah. Anyway, let me get the jerseys for you to try on." Hannah left the living room and came back a minute later holding two hockey jerseys. Mark tried both on before telling Hannah to go with the medium one. Hannah thanked him and shortly thereafter, Mark got ready to leave. When he got to the door, he turned and faced Hannah, then said, "I missed hanging out with you when you were in Europe."

"Me too," Mark said. He missed hanging out with her, but suddenly he was starting to see something he didn't before. It wasn't until he saw her that night for the first time in two weeks that he realized how much he missed Hannah. Not just hanging out with her, but missed her in general. He wasn't sure if she felt the same way, but decided to tell her discretely and see if she picked up on it. "I missed you too."

Hannah looked at him surprised for a minute, wondering whether he meant what she though he meant. Looking into his blue eyes, Hannah started leaning toward him, and Mark was leaning toward her as well. Their lips touched in a brief kiss, and then they pulled away.

"See you soon, Hannah," Mark said and turned away quickly.

"Bye," Hannah said, shutting the door as soon as he was gone. They both began asking themselves the same thing, "What just happened? Was it mistake? Did they really mean to kiss each other?" Neither completely knew, but they both knew they definitely felt something.

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The next morning, Mark and Mac were getting ready for practice and Mark decided to ask Mac's opinion of the kiss because he had no idea what to do. He knew he could trust Mac's advice, and he also knew it would be honest advice. Mark also knew that Mac wouldn't tell the other guys either if he asked him not to.

"Hey Mac, can I talk to you about something?"

"Let me guess, it has to do with Hannah?" Mac asked.

Mark gave him a weird look, and then went on to ask, "How you know?"

"Because it's about time. I saw what was going on last night at the bar. You kept looking at her, then she would look at you, or vice versa. And your flirting would have even been obvious to Helen Keller!"

"It wasn't that bad!" Mark said in his defense.

"Maybe you don't think so, but everyone noticed it. After you two left, everyone talked about it."

"What?" Mark said, shocked more than questioning. He didn't think they were that bad. They were just being friendly.

"I'm just telling you like it is," Mac said. "Maybe you're just blinded by love," he joked, laughing.

"Well, I need advice," Mark started seriously, and told Mac all about the kiss in her apartment.

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Later that afternoon, Mark got back form practice and decided to give Hannah a call. It was after three, so he guessed she would be home by then. He really wanted to talk to her about their kiss night before. As soon as she answered her phone though, he began having second thoughts.

"Hey Hannah."

"Hey Mark. What's going on?" she asked, trying her best to sound casual.

"Just got back from practice," he said. "How was school today?"

"Pretty good. I practiced lots of cursive letters today. And my addition and subtraction." Mark smiled.

"Are you busy tonight?" he asked.

"No. I'll do anything to put off making up the math test another night. What do you have in mind?" Mark could almost tell Hannah was purposely sounding more casual than normal. He wondered if it had anything to do with their kiss.

"Well, we need to talk . . . and I thought it might be fun to just hang out a while."

"Yeah . . . we do," Hannah said, knowing exactly what they needed to talk about. "You can come to my apartment for a while. I can make dinner."

"Are you sure? Because you can come to the dorms too. Most of the guys are going out tonight anyway, so it'll be quiet around here."

"Okay, it doesn't matter to me," Hannah said.

Mark and Hannah finally decided that he would pick her up and they would go shopping for something to make for dinner. After that they were going to go back to Mark's room to make it and then hang out and watch a movie or something.

They didn't really do much serious talking right away. It was just their normal, friendly conversation. At the grocery store, they ended up picking up some pizza dough, sauce, cheese, and other pizza toppings. Mark carried up the bags to his room, and Hannah carried a bag she brought; Mark had yet to find out what was in it.

"Okay, ready to make some pizza? I'm starving," Hannah said.

"Me too. You'll have to tell me what to do. I don't really cook that much," said Mark.

"Well, you're in luck. One, pizza's the easiest thing to make. Even my sister can make pizza. And two, you have me to teach you. Not trying to sound cocky or anything, but I'm an excellent pizza maker," Hannah said, winking.

"Well good. I like learning from the best." 

Mark and Hannah made their pizza, and in the process, made a mess. It was actually Mark making most of the mess. He had sauce all over his shirt and also got it all over the counter. Hannah gave him one look and laughed.

"What?" he asked, smiling.

"Did you want any sauce on the pizza?" she joked.

"Yeah, but I needed some extra on my shirt if I get hungry later," he said, grinning. He then reached over to Hannah and pulled a piece of cheese from her hair. "It looks like you're saving some cheese for later."

"You put it there!" she accused.

"No I didn't!"

"You must have," she said laughing.

As they were playfully flirting with the pizza ingredients, they finally were interrupted by the beeping from the oven, letting them know it was preheated. Hannah out the pizza in and set the timer. They cleaned up a little and sat down while waiting for the pizza.

"So . . . " Mark started.

"So," Hannah said, hoping he would say something else.

"We need to talk."

"Yeah, I know."

"Um, so about last night . . . " Mark started.

"Yeah . . . " Hannah said, also trailing off. Then Mark sighed.

"Okay, I'll be honest. Ever since I got back from Europe . . . maybe it even started while I was there, I'm not really sure . . . but I've been, like, I don't know, even more . . . attracted, to you." Mark stopped for a second, looking at Hannah to see what she was thinking. "I like you, a lot. And honestly, although the kiss lasted a millisecond, it was nice."

"It was," Hannah said.

"There's just so many reasons it wouldn't work," Mark said, trying to think of good reasons. He knew there were reasons, but whether they were good enough reasons was another issue. The only really legitimate reason for not wanting to pursue a relationship he didn't really want to discuss.

"Yeah, I guess," Hannah said quietly.

"I mean, in five months from now, I'll be leaving. I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins before I decided to come here, and if they still want me when the Olympics are over, I'll be going there. And you'll be here . . . so . . . long distance relationships are hard," he finished.

"Yeah, but what if something really good comes out of trying? We'll never know unless we try. And we can't keep fooling ourselves. At least, I can't keep fooling myself. I try to tell myself you're just my friend, but it gets harder and harder. I really like you, Mark."

"I like you too," he said.

"Why don't we just see what happens then? Let's take things slow, and who knows what'll happen. In five months, we could either have something that we want to try to keep going, or we may be sick of each other anyway."

"Okay, let's see what happens," Mark said in agreement. As they agreed on slowly starting to be more than friends, the timer went off for their pizza.

They enjoyed dinner, although Mark didn't think he should take much credit for it, because Hannah did most of the work. After eating, Mark finally got to see what Hannah brought over in the bag whose contents she was hiding from him before. Hannah pulled out Yahtzee, Life, and Sorry.

"I love board games," Hannah explained. "They're like, my secret obsession. We don't have to play if you don't want to, but I thought it might be fun."

"I haven't played a board game in a long time," Mark said. "I used to all the time. And I love Yahtzee."

"Do you want to play?"

"Yeah, sure."

After a few games of Yahtzee, which Mark won them all, they decided to play Sorry. Mark surprisingly won Sorry too, after being in Start while Hannah had all four men on the board. They played Life last.

"Whenever I played with my sister, it was always a contest to see who had more kids. I never cared if I lost the game, as long as I had the most kids," Hannah said, after getting her second kid in the game. Mark laughed.

"Well, you might beat me there. I'm a ways ahead of you and still don't have any kids."

Several turns later, Hannah's car was full, and Mark's remained practically empty except for his blue peg and the pink peg that represented his wife.

"You need a three," Hannah told him.

"Why?"

"Because that's your only hope for having kids. The "adopt twins" space is your last chance."

"Well, even if I don't get it, at least I have a hot wife," he joked. Hannah laughed. Mark spun the wheel and got the three Hannah wanted him to get.

"Yay!"

"Yay!" Mark imitated, though not sounding nearly as excited. Hannah gave him the blue and pink pegs to put in his car.

"How do you know there's one of each? They might both be girls, or both boys, the board doesn't say," Mark told her.

"Well, I'm just guessing. But since you don't have any kids, it's nice to have one of each." Hannah got ready to spin the wheel and take her turn. "I need a seven."

"Your car's already full."

"But if I get a seven, I beat my record of five kids. I'll have six."

"But they won't fit in your car."

Hannah spun and ended up getting a seven. Mark noticed she was absolutely thrilled. Having six kids seemed to have made her day.

"Where are you going to put them?"

"Well, I could kick my husband out of the car. I've done that before. But since I have two kids, maybe I'll just take another car."

"Just lay them down sideways," Mark said.

"Then they're not in seats. I can't risk having them fall out," she joked.

"You have Health insurance," Mark said, playing along, pointing to her Health insurance bill. Hannah ignored him and got out another car for her other two children.

"They're not old enough to drive," Mark said, giving her a hard time.

"My oldest kids probably are by now. I got them a while ago. I think every turn is a few Life years."

Mark and Hannah finished the game and counted their money. Mark won, but only by a couple hundred dollars. He felt a little bad that Hannah didn't win any games that night.

"I don't care," Hannah told him with a smile. "After all, I had six kids in Life, and that's what's most important anyway." Mark just laughed. He loved how Hannah knew how to have fun and laugh about things. She had a great smile and laugh.

It was late when Mark and Hannah finally finished playing the board games, so Mark told Hannah that he'd take her home. She had to work the next day, and Mark had practice, so he wanted to get some sleep too.

"I had fun playing those games tonight, Hannah. We should do that again," Mark said when he pulled up to her apartment.

"Well, I have a ton of board games. Almost everything imaginable. You name it, I probably have it."

Hannah looked over at Mark and as their eyes met, they leaned in toward each other. After sharing a sweet kiss, they pulled away, looking at each other again.

"Well, I should go inside . . . " Hannah started.

"Yeah, I need to get back too," Mark said. Before Hannah left though, they shared another kiss. This time, it was a little longer than the last, but it was still nice and sweet.

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A/N: Okay, please review and tell me what you thought. If you think the story is moving slow, I'm sorry, but Ipromise that things get really, really interesting next chapter. 


	6. Surprise Visitors

meadow567: Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. I hope you enjoy this one too!

NellieBly413672: Thanks. Glad you liked the chapter and the joke. I think you'll like this chapter too. =)

A/N: Okay, as promised, things will start getting good this chapter. Of course, I bet people will want to kill me with how it ends . . . 

Two days after Mark and Hannah made the decision to try being a couple, Mark and the guys were enjoying a night out at the bar. Everyone had been harassing Mark about Hannah for a while, and except for Mac, they had yet to find out Mark and Hannah were actually dating. A few knew something was going on with them though, because Mark stopped adamantly denying the accusations that something was going on between them. When Hannah showed up at the bar with some coworkers, Mark excused himself from the table to go say hi, and the guys all watched Mark closely, waiting to see how he would greet Hannah.

"Hey Hannah," Mark said while walking over to her.

"Hey, Mark. Some of the girls I work with came too." She turned to the girls. "This is Mark Johnson."

"And he's the one that plays hockey, right?" one of the girls asked.

"Yeah, he plays hockey," Hannah confirmed.

"And he has friends, right?" another girl asked in a joking tone.

"They're not nearly as nice and good looking as me though," Mark teased.

"That's okay, I was joking anyway. I'm actually engaged. My fiancee was asking me about you and your teammates earlier. I think he wanted to come so he could meet you. He thinks you're all going to be future NHL stars," the girl said, in a tone that was questioning how right her fiancee was.

"Actually, a lot of us may play in the NHL after the Olympics," Mark told her.

"Mark's gonna play for the Penguins," Hannah interjected.

"Well . . . " Mark said, shrugging. He hated getting a lot of attention for that. Hannah's coworkers then migrated toward the bar to get drinks while Hannah stayed with Mark.

"Want to go say hi to the guys?" Mark asked.

"Sure," was Hannah's reply. Mark took Hannah's hand in his and they started walking to the table full of guys. This hand holding did not go unnoticed by Mark's teammates, who had been watching the two from the time Hannah walked in. A few were smiling with amused looks on their faces by the time Mark and Hannah reached the table, amused looks which Mark noticed. He just shook his head at them, warning them not to make a big deal out of it. Of course, this made it worse.

"What's with the hand holding, kids?" OC asked, with a wide grin. Hannah blushed slightly and Mark pretended not to hear him, but did squeeze Hannah's hand a little for both reassurance and to make sure she didn't pull away.

"We just came over to say hi," Mark told the guys. "I think we're gonna go get some drinks," he added, looking over at Hannah.

"Sounds good," she said to Mark, then turned to his friends. "It's good seeing everyone again."

"It's good to see you too, Hannah," Jimmy said for everyone.

"So are you two like an item now?" Silky asked Hannah, before her and Mark could head over to the bar. "Mark won't tell us anything."

"Umm . . . " Hannah said, then looked over at Mark. She wanted him to be the one that said it.

"Yeah," he said. "We are."

"I knew it!" said Buzz. Buzz then looked over at Bah. "You owe me twenty bucks," he said happily. Most of the other guys were saying how they were right too.

"Fine," Bah said, groaning, and reached into his pocket to get money from his wallet. "Here you go."

"Now you can buy the next round," Rizzo said.

Hannah and Mark left to get their drinks, and Hannah looked over at Mark. "They were making bets on us getting together?"

"I guess," Mark replied. "That doesn't exactly surprise me though."

"Me either," Hannah said smiling. She thought some of Mark's friends were a little crazy, but they were definitely fun to be around.

The following Sunday night, the guys were enjoying their weekly team dinner at the dorms. Rizzo made it, like usual, because he was the best cook out of all of them, and one of the only. That night it was Mac and Mark's turn to help out though. But since they were only in charge of getting beer, garlic bread, and making salad, they couldn't really mess anything up.

"Good spaghetti, Rizzo," OC managed to get out with his mouth full.

"Yeah," most of the guys agreed.

"Mac and Magic helped," Rizzo said, giving them some credit.

"Yeah, nice choice on beer," Verchota said somewhat sarcastically.

"We got the garlic bread and made the salad too," Mac said.

The guys then got into different conversations about all different things, and with four or five different conversations going on in the room, it began getting very loud. That was typical of their team dinners and outings though.

"So Mark, what' up with you and Hannah?" OC asked. "Have you guys . . . you know, done anything worthy of sharing yet?"

"No, not really. We've barely been dating a week."

"So?" OC said. He didn't think the length of time meant anything.

"What do you guys do when you're alone then?" Mac asked. "God knows you two are alone in her apartment or our room enough." Mark knew that Mac had a point. They had been together a lot the past week, but most of the time was spent just enjoying each other's company and hanging out.

"We hang out," Mark replied. "I don't know. The one night, we played board games, another night we-"

Mark was interrupted by OC, who joked, "Oooh, so that's what they're calling it now . . . "

Mark responded to his comment by throwing a little piece of garlic bread at him. The others who had heard the comment laughed.

"I wouldn't tell you even if we were doing anything, OC. I like to show a little thing called respect. Not that respect's a word in your dictionary." Now the guys laughed again, but at Mark's comment.

OC rolled his eyes, then, bored with Mark's love life, turned to Verchota, who was sitting a few seats the other way. 

"How was your date the other night, Verchota? With . . . what was her name, Dana or something?"

"Yeah, Dana," Verchota said. "It was pretty good. The night didn't exactly end how I wanted it too, but I think out next date definitely could. I think I'm gonna have her meet us at the bar some night. Since everyone else brings girls now and then, I figured I would too."

"She hot?" Silky asked.

"Yeah. I wouldn't be going out with her if she wasn't," Verchota replied.

"So are things moving with the two of you faster than things between Mark and Hannah?" OC asked.

"Probably. It sounds like things between them are standing still."

"Verchota, how would you know anything?" Mark asked. "You weren't even paying attention to our conversation before."

"It's obvious," Verchota said. "You never talk about what goes on between you two."

"Well, things aren't standing still."

"Oh really?" Verchota challenged.

"Where exactly are you two on the base path, if I may ask?" Silky asked.

"Still in the batter's box?" cracked Buzz.

"No," Mark answered. "But I guess we're pretty close to it," he finally added, cracking a bit of a smile. He supposed that it was better to joke around a bit than be uptight and serious. Maybe then the guys would leave him alone a bit more.

"So you admit it," said Mac. "Your relationship is like, on a middle school level."

"Well, I like her, okay. I don't want to do something stupid. We agreed on taking things slow."

"But taking things slow, and not taking things anywhere at all are totally different things," said OC.

"OC, I'll start listening to your advice when you have a girlfriend for more than a month at a time," Mark snapped, though he wasn't really angry, just a little annoyed.

"All right, point taken," OC conceded.

Thursday night, Hannah went out t dinner with her friends when the topic of Mark came up. It was a pretty popular topic among the friends for two reasons. The first was that Hannah was the only one of the three of them that currently had a boyfriend. The other was just that Maggie's middle name was 'Gossip'.

"So, how's Mark?" Maggie asked.

"He's fine," Hannah answered, knowing her friend wanted a little more detail than that, but only answering what Maggie had asked.

"Okay then, how are things with you and Mark," Kristine asked, correcting Maggie's previous question.

"Fine," Hannah said.

"It's time to widen your vocabulary," Kristine said.

"Things are good," Hannah said, shrugging, as in 'What more is there to say.' "Really good."

"_Really_ good," Maggie commented, looking at Kristine. Hannah smiled at her friends.

"I like him a lot," Hannah said, but her tone was a little less upbeat than before.

"There's a but coming," Maggie said, reading Hannah's mind.

"Mark's great . . . it's just that he's really shy."

"You're not exactly the most outgoing one in the bunch either," Maggie reminded her.

"That's not really what I mean. Sometimes he seems really outgoing. He jokes around, he's fun, he's talkative, he likes meeting new people . . . but he doesn't see to want to open up. Whenever I ask him stuff to try to get to know him, he's careful about talking. It's almost like he doesn't want to tell me about his family and life in Wisconsin."

"Well, you haven't been dating that long," Kristine said. "Things like that come with time. And some people aren't as comfortable talking about their families as others. Just because you're really close to your family and get along with them, doesn't mean everyone else does."

"I know," Hannah said, knowing her friends were right. Mark was great and she wasn't going to let a trivial concern change anything.

By the time Friday rolled around, Mark was glad. They had a game Saturday night, but that meant the guys had a somewhat relaxing weekend. Everyone agreed that practices were always a lot harder and more work than games. Playing games meant they didn't have to do much conditioning that day. Their game was against the North Stars, and since it was close by, Mark invited Hannah to come along and watch.

It wasn't the best game, seeing as they lost four to two, but they played well enough for Herb's liking that night. It was nothing like the Norway game two weeks before. Mark also scored the first goal of the game, so Hannah was excited for him.

After the game, Hannah, Kristine, and Maggie went downstairs and waited near the locker room for the guys to come out. They were hoping to hang out for a while at one of the bars nearby. Hannah just wanted to see Mark, but the other two girls wanted to be seen with the hockey players.

Mark walked out of the locker room with Mac and Buzz.

"Hey Hannah," he said, greeting her with a hug and quick kiss. "Hey girls," he said to the other two.

"Nice playing," Hannah commented.

"Eh, we did okay."

"Well you had a nice goal."

"Yeah," Mark said shrugging. "So what's going on?"

"Well, I think Maggie and Kristine want to go out for a few drinks. Think any of the guys will be interested?"

"Yeah, probably. They'll probably want some beer to get over the loss," Mark said. "Come to think of it though, they'd want beer to celebrate a win too. Win or lose, they're always up for some drinks."

Just then, Verchota and Bah came out of the locker room.

"Want to go get some drinks guys?" Mark asked.

"Sure," Bah said. "Are you girls going?"

"Yeah," Maggie answered for both of them.

"I'm gonna see if Dana wants to stop by then," Verchota said. "Where are we going?"

They discussed their plans and decided where to meet before Mark told the other guys and everyone left.

The rest of the night ended up being fun. The bar was really crowded, and even more so because so many guys on the team invited people to come along. Since it was a home game, a lot of the guys had their friends come to the game and invited them out after as well. It was almost more like they were at a big house party instead of a bar, except without the bedrooms.

"Someone needs to tell Verchota and Dana to stop swapping spit before I throw up," said Christian.

"No one's making you watch them," Mac remarked smartly. "I dealt with it all four years of college, so I have little sympathy when other people have to deal with it for a couple hours."

"I have to deal with him all the time," Christian complained. "We're roommates."

"And I was stuck with him for four years," Mac shot back. 

Christian then turned to Mark and Hannah, who were standing with him and Mac. "At least you two are acting civilized. I think you're the only couple here that are."

"Bah and his sort of girlfriend are fine too," Mark said.

"Sort of girlfriend?" Hannah asked.

"They just started dating. I don't know what they are exactly though. I guess he's known her for a long time, they were like best friends or something, and last week they ran into each other, and now their dating."

"Oh, okay," Hannah said and shrugged.

"Who's the guy over there with Maggie?" Mark asked, directing the question to anyone that knew the answer.

"I'm not sure. She sure didn't come with him," Hannah said.

"That's Verchota's brother," Mac told them.

"Oh God," Hannah said, shaking her head.

"Don't worry. He's not as bad as Verchota. I've met him and he seems like a pretty nice guy."

"I thought he was engaged?" Christian questioned. Hannah's eyes went wide and she looked at Mac. If the guy was engaged and he was still flirting with Maggie, he couldn't be that nice.

"That's his other brother," Mac said, giving Hannah a little relief.

"He only has one brother," Christian said. "And the brother is definitely engaged."

"Oh," Mac said. He didn't really know what was going on then. "Wait," he then said. "He dumped her."

"Why?" Christian said. "They were in the middle of planning their wedding."

"I don't know exactly. I think she caught him sharing a little, innocent kiss with an ex."

"But you said that he dumped her," Christian said.

"Yeah, I don't know what the rest of the story is."

"Oh, okay," Christian said. As casual as they made their conversation sound, Mark couldn't help but be amused by watching Hannah's expressions the entire time.

A little while later, Mark and Hannah left and went to Hannah's apartment for a while. They watched TV for a while, but not a lot was on, so they talked more than anything. Before they knew it, talking turned into making out. Although Mark and Hannah had kissed before, they hadn't really made out, so it was a huge step for them. Mark was on top of Hannah on the couch, and she tugged on the bottom of his shirt to pull it over his head his head. As Hannah's hands roamed over his bare chest and then back, Mark's hands roaming over her body and down to the bottom of her shirt. His hands moved back up, under her shirt slightly and his lips found a sensitive spot on her neck, making her moan. After a couple minutes of this, Mark pulled away a little.

"We should stop before it's too late," he said, knowing exactly where things were headed.

Hannah looked in his eyes before responding. "Yeah, we should." Then Hannah reached up to reach his lips again. Mark gladly kissed back, his tongue parting her lips and exploring her mouth. Now Hannah pulled back.

"Okay, we really have to stop."

"I know," Mark said, smiling at his girlfriend. "We're getting too carried away."

"You're just so irresistible though," Hannah said, smiling back.

"Why thank you," he said, and sat up, putting his shirt back on to avoid any more temptation. "So . . . " he started.

"Well, I don't want to kick you out, but it's getting sort of late," Hannah said, looking at the clock.

"Yeah," Mark said, noticing it was going on three-thirty in the morning. "I should probably go."

"Well, you could stay here," Hannah offered. "I have a big bed. It's definitely big enough for two people. Then you wouldn't have to drive back tonight." Mark thought about it. Then Hannah added, "Plus, if you stay, I just might make something really good for breakfast."

"Well, you should have said that in the first place. Now I'm definitely staying. Maybe I'll move in," he joked. Hannah smiled. "Wait. There's one condition," Mark added. "You have to teach me how to make whatever it is we're having."

"Okay," Hannah said. "I happen to be good at teaching too," she added, referring to the fact that she was a teacher. Mark had a slightly different interpretation of her statement though.

"I'll remember that," Mark said suggestively, making Hannah blush.

"That's not what I meant," she said, playfully hitting his chest. "You have one dirty mind."

The next day, Mark didn't make it back to his room until close to dinner time. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't make a quick and quiet entrance. He had to pass the big kitchen in their hall where a bunch of guys were hanging out and helping Rizzo with dinner.

"Where have you been?" Bah teased him, knowing very well what the answer was.

"Getting it on?" OC asked.

"It's about time Magic got laid," Silky commented.

Mark just pretended not to hear them as he walked to his room. Now he had to deal with Mac. Still, one person was easier than twenty.

"Hey. Where the hell were you all night?" asked Mac. "I was shocked you didn't make it back. I was beginning to think you two were never gonna do it."

"We didn't sleep together," Mark told him. 

Mac raised his eyebrows, silently saying, "Don't lie to me."

"Well, I guess we technically slept together, in the same bed. But we didn't have sex. We made out though . . . a lot," Mark said, grinning. "Today we slept in, then made breakfast together."

"She cooks a lot, doesn't she," Mac said, making the assumption from the number of times Mark had talked about cooking or eating together.

"She loves cooking. And she's pretty good too."

"When's she gonna make dinner for me?" Mac asked, half joking.

"Maybe she'll make something for the team sometime," Mark offered, knowing Hannah wouldn't mind.

"So you really didn't do it?" Mac asked again hardly able to fathom the idea that nothing more than making out happened.

"No."

"You must really like her," Mac deduced.

"I do," Mark answered.

"Well, you're gonna have to hold onto her then."

"Yeah," he said, agreeing. Mark thought it was easier said than done though.

"Okay, enough of this sort of sentimental crap," Mac said before he got too carried away with saying nice things and giving advice. "Let's go see if dinner's ready."

One night in early October, Mark was relaxing in his room and flipping through channels, trying to find something good on TV. Most of the guys were hanging around their rooms that night, because they had a rough practice and had another early the next morning. Mac wasn't around, because he had gone on a date, so Mark had the room to himself, which was nice for a change. Normally, he'd be spending time with Hannah, but she wasn't around because she was with her friends for the night. Being completely alone gave Mark time to think about everything that was going on.

In the past two weeks, he and Hannah had gotten extremely close, and their relationship was growing every day. Mark also knew that being more involved had its problems too, and as much as he tried not to worry, the closer he and Hannah got, the harder it was. Before Mark could start thinking things through, there was a knock at the door, which Mark almost ignored at first. He figured it was just one of the guys and that if he pretended to be asleep they would go away. When the knock was persistent, he changed his mind and got up to answer it, just in case it was Hannah stopping by on her way home. Mark was completely shocked to see who was at the door though.

"Kelly? What are you doing here?" Mark asked, his eyes wide. He was totally surprised to see her.

"Well, since you haven't called in almost two weeks, I decided to drop by."

"I've been busy," Mark said, in a tone that told Kelly she shouldn't have shown up without letting him know.

"Apparently," she responded flatly.

"You need to leave," Mark told her, looking down the empty hallway.

"Are you afraid someone's going to see me? Because I'm not the one you should be worried about. I brought someone else along to see you."

"Kelly! Why the hell would you do that? You know it's-" Mark stopped mid-sentence, now seeing someone else coming down the hallway. The little girl looked up and saw Mark.

"Daddy!" she shouted, running down the hallway.

A/N: I know, I'm so mean for leaving it there. Next chapter - next weekend. Anyway, I'd like to hear what you all thought!! Who's Kelly? And why did the little girl call Mark "Daddy"? Does he really have a kid? Please amuse me with your guesses and thoughts!


	7. Who's the Munchkin?

NellieBly413672: Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you like the story so far. You seem really excited for this chapter too, and I hope you like it!

meadow567: I like your guesses. You'll have to read to see if you're right. But thank you so much for your review and making the guesses. I love reading what other people are think about the cliffhangers! Thanks again and enjoy the chapter.

A/N: Here's another chapter. Please review! I don't want to beg but I really, really want more than two reviews!! Even if you hated it, at least let me know. I can't make the story better without suggestions. (And thanks again to NellieBly413672 and meadow567 for the consistent reviews. If I could give you some of the really delicious chocolate chip cookies I just made, I would)

Previously . . .

"Kelly? What are you doing here?" Mark asked, his eyes wide. He was totally surprised to see her.

"Well, since you haven't called in almost two weeks, I decided to drop by."

"I've been busy," Mark said, in a tone that told Kelly she shouldn't have shown up without letting him know.

"Apparently," she responded flatly.

"You need to leave," Mark told her, looking down the empty hallway.

"Are you afraid someone's going to see me? Because I'm not the one you should be worried about. I brought someone else along to see you."

"Kelly! Why the hell would you do that? You know it's-" Mark stopped mid-sentence, now seeing someone else coming down the hallway. The little girl looked up and saw Mark.

"Daddy!" she shouted, running down the hallway.

The little girl ran up to Mark and jumped in his arms. Just as she did this, Mark backed into his room and pulled Kelly in too, with his free hand, then shut the door.

"Shhh, people are sleeping. You have to be quiet," Mark told her, attempting to keep his voice calm-sounding.

"Yeah, Lexi," Kelly said. "Use your indoor voice. Daddy doesn't want anyone to hear you." Mark glared at Kelly and set the little girl down.

"Only because I don't want her waking everyone up. We have an early practice tomorrow."

"Whatever, Mark," Kelly said, her tone saying that she didn't believe him.

"I made something for you Daddy," Lexi said, handing him a picture, completely oblivious to the tension between Mark and Kelly.

"Thanks, Lexi," Mark said enthusiastically, but unable to tell what it was. "Why don't you go find a nice place to hang it up?" Mark suggested.

"You haven't told anyone, have you?" Kelly asked as soon as Lexi walked away.

"Would you?" Mark retorted.

"I don't believe you!" Kelly said, looking disgusted. Then she half whispered, "She's your daughter Mark. You can't be ashamed forever."

"I'm not ashamed."

"Yes you are. You won't take care of her. And you've stopped calling as much as you used to. It's like there are more important things than your family!"

"Well, it's sort of hard to take care of her playing hockey every day. That's why she's staying with you for now," Mark reminded Kelly.

"Not for long."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mark asked, sounding angry.

"Lexi's staying with you. She misses you. Last week, after you promised to call and never did, she cried because she thought you didn't love us anymore."

"I do love-."

"Try explaining that to a three-year-old," Kelly said, cutting him off. "When you don't talk to your family, let alone your child, for weeks at a time . . . " Kelly shook her head trailing off. "You could have called," she finished.

"Well, I got busy."

"And that's exactly what you can tell Lexi. That you were too busy to talk to her." Mark's face filled with remorse as he looked at his daughter who was bouncing on Mac's bed completely unaware of the adult's conversation concerning her. He felt really guilty now. Kelly continued to lay it on him. "Mom's pissed too, you know. She loves having Lexi there, but she's sick of raising your daughter. We've all been supportive so far, Mark, but this is going overboard. I guess we've helped you out too much. You need to take responsibility."

"I have. And I'm trying. I could have decided to have nothing to do with her in the first place, but I knew she needed a father."

"You're not doing much good a state away," Kelly said. "Seven months is a long time for a little girl. She needs you, Mark."

"I know. But how can I raise her here?"

"You'll figure it out."

"Are you at least staying for a few days?" he asked meekly.

"Aw, do you think you need your little sister's help?" Kelly asked him, in a slightly condescending tone.

"Yeah. I don't know what to do with a three-year-old little girl," Mark answered seriously.

"Well, lucky for you, I'm staying for a few days. But only through the weekend. I need to be back at work on Monday."

"Three days is better than nothing," Mark said with a sigh, still hoping that at the end of the weekend, Kelly would change her mind and take Lexi back to Wisconsin.

It was late when Mac got back to his room that night. He almost didn't come back at all, but Andrea . . . Ashley . . . well, whatever her name was, turned out to be far from his type. Since the lights were out, Mac assumed that Mark had already gone to bed, so he tried not to make much noise. Making his way across the dark room, he tripped over something on the floor and then bent down to pick it up. It made a loud screeching sound when he picked it up.

"What the hell?" he wondered out loud. Mac stood up and was now face to face with something sitting up in his bed. "Holy shit!" he said, startled. He had no idea what it was because he could barely see.

"You said a bad word," a little kid's voice told him.

Mac quickly looked around. Was he in the right room?

"That's my dolly," the child's voice spoke again. "Could I have it?"

Now Mac was really confused. Luckily, before Mac had too much of a chance to wonder about anything, Mark woke up.

"Oh hey, Mac," Mark said, sounding tired. He turned the light on. "Sorry, I didn't expect you home tonight. It got so late . . . " Mark said, leaving the sentence trail.

"Why is there a baby in my bed?" Mac asked, now clearly able to see that the kid occupying his bed was a little girl, wearing a pink nightgown and pigtails in her hair.

"I'm not a baby!" Lexi said and stood up on the bed, sounding insulted.

"Well excuse me," Mac told Lexi, then turned back to Mark. "Why is there a kid in my bed?"

"I'm Lexi!" she said, now bouncing with a smile on her face.

"She's, uh . . . well . . . my sister brought her here," Mark said.

"Where's your sister now?"

"At a hotel about five minutes down the road."

"And Lexi's here?" Mac said, his tone in the form of a question. He was confused as to why Mark had to watch his niece for the night if her mother was five minutes away.

"Yeah." Mark then sighed, knowing he couldn't keep up the act anymore. "Look, Mac . . . it's a lot more complicated than you think."

"Well, I just don't understand why your sister would leave her daughter here and go to a hotel. Why do you have to watch your niece?"

"Lexi's not my niece . . . she's my daughter," Mark explained. Mac smiled, at first thinking that Mark was joking. Then his smile disappeared as he noticed how serious Mark remained.

"You're serious?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my God. I didn't know that you-"

"No one does," Mark quickly said, interrupting Mac. "And I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible."

"Why?" Mac wondered.

"If the guys on the team knew I had a daughter . . . it would just make things more complicated. It always does."

"But Mark, when people find out . . . " Mac trailed off, and looked at Mark, who almost had a worried sort of look on his face. "I don't know, never mind," Mac finished. He could see that Mark really didn't want people knowing about his daughter. Mac looked back to Lexi. He could clearly see the resemblance between the father and daughter. Although Lexi's hair was a couple shades lighter, Mac could tell it was a little wavy, like her dad's. She also had Mark's eyes, the light but piercing shade of blue. And although the girl was young and quite short, Mac could almost just tell she was going to take after her father in the height department. He had so many questions for Mark though.

"How old is she?"

"She's three," Mark said, rubbing his hand on his forehead.

"Three and a_ half_," Lexi corrected, rolling her eyes and emphasizing the 'half'.

"Lexi, it's really late," Mark told her. "You need to go back to sleep."

"But I'm not tired."

"Well, you need to go to sleep."

"Okay Daddy," Lexi said, laying back down in Mac's bed. Mark watched her for a minute, realizing she wasn't closing her eyes.

"Lexi, you can't sleep with your eyes open."

"I can't sleep till you tuck me in," she responded.

Mark sighed and got out of bed, tucked Lexi in, then said goodnight. He told her that he would be right outside the room in the hallway for a minute, and went outside with Mac so they could talk.

"Who's her mother," Mac asked as soon as they were outside the room.

"Her name's Rebecca. I dated her in high school. We were together for three years when she got pregnant. After Lexi was born, she started college at the University of Wisconsin with me, and that's when things went downhill. She started drinking all the time, smoking, doing drugs, partying every weekend . . . she was the farthest thing from a good mother. Then, she picked up and left, without an explanation, without a goodbye . . . and I was left to raise a baby."

"Was Lexi with your sister up until now?" Mac wondered.

"Yeah, my parents and sister. They've been really supportive and helpful through everything. If I didn't have them, especially my mom, I'd be a complete mess. But now, I have to keep her here. Lexi missed me too much."

"She's staying here!?" Mac said, surprised.

"Well, I don't know what else to do. She's my daughter, I can't do anything else with her. And my sister refuses to take her back to Wisconsin."

"How do you plan on explaining this to the guys? I mean, Lexi can't stay here alone while we're practicing. And even if she goes to daycare or something, eventually the guys will find out there's a three-year-old in our room."

"But they don't have to know she's my daughter," Mark said. "I'll say she's my niece or sister or something and I need to take care of her for a while."

"What a tangled web you're weaving for yourself," Mac commented.

"I'll be careful," Mark assured him.

"So you're telling me that I have to keep quiet about this?"

"Will you?" Mark asked.

Mac hesitated, and looked at Mark for a minute. It was pretty obvious that Mark was concerned about people knowing about his daughter. He didn't really completely understand why though. "Yeah, I won't tell anyone. But I'm not flat out lying either. I'm not going to tell the guys, _my friends_, lies about Lexi being your niece, or anything else. You'll have to do that on your own."

"Thanks Mac. You not telling anyone really means a lot."

"Yeah, I can tell," Mac said, hitting Mark on the shoulder. "Just let me ask you one question. Why don't you want people knowing? What's the big deal?"

"You can't imagine the looks I get. When Lexi was a baby, if I took her anywhere, people would say things about me. Sometimes, they would make a comment directly to me, and even worse, sometimes I could overhear comments made about me. Even if they didn't say anything, I got disapproving looks everywhere I went. People looked at me like I was a terrible person for having a kid. I can't deal with that for five months. I want people to like me for me, not dislike me because of Lexi."

"Well, I'm not judging you. Maybe no one else will either."

"I'd rather not chance it. If the guys find out, it's only a matter of time before Craig knows. And if Craig knows, Herb's gonna find out. I don't want to give him a reason to kick me off the team."

"Herb may be crazy, but he's not crazy enough to send our best player home."

Usually Mark would respond with a comment denying that he was the best on the team. Tonight he just didn't feel like arguing though, so instead, he said, "I wouldn't be so sure. My father and him are big rivals. If I do anything to get on his bad side, I can kiss the Olympics good-bye."

Mac still didn't completely agree with Mark, but let it go. He'd keep Lexi's identity a secret, but only because Mark was such a good friend. He just hoped it didn't end badly. The way Mac saw it though, there was no chance in Hell that Herb would send Mark home. No matter how much Herb disliked Mark's dad.

The next morning, Mac left for practice and Mark was still waiting for Kelly. Practice started in ten minutes, and if Kelly didn't show up soon, Mark didn't know what he would do. Finally, there was a knock at the door.

"Kelly!" Mark said as soon as he opened it. "You're late. Now I'm gonna be late."

"Well, I'm sorry. You should be thankful I'm here at all. Lexi's not my responsibility." Just then, Lexi came to the door too, having heard Kelly's voice.

"Aunt Kelly!" she said, reaching up to give her a hug.

"Hey Lexi," Kelly said, a lot happier sounding now that she was talking to Lexi. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. I'll be back in a few hours. And please don't leave the room."

"Yes sir," Kelly said, saluting her brother.

Lexi, who thought it was funny, copied her aunt. "Yes sir."

Mark ran to the rink and got there just before practice was scheduled to start.

"Someone must have had a long night last night," OC commented. "Running a little late this morning?"

"Yeah. I had stuff to take care of," Mark mumbled, getting his hockey gear on.

"Better hurry. I heard Herb's in a bad mood this morning."

"Thanks," Mark replied. He was thinking, _Just great._

To say Mark wasn't as focused on hockey today was an understatement. Herb noticed too, because he got yelled at numerous times during practice. First, for not passing. Then, for passing to the wrong person. Next, for passing at all when he had an open shot. Relieved when it was over, he went to get showered and changed. He wanted to hurry back to his room so he could make sure Kelly was still there. To make his day worse though, he was called into see Herb after practice.

"It seemed like your head wasn't completely in it today," Herb stated. Mark didn't respond. "Is something on your mind?"

_If only you knew, _he thought. Then Mark responded, "Sorry coach. I had a few family issues last night, and I guess I wasn't thinking clearly." He thought that Herb might be at least a little understanding.

"Well, you better get over them fast," Herb said. Mark wasn't getting a break today. "You can go now. But see to it that you come here on Monday ready to play. Mind and body."

"Okay coach." Mark got up and left, knowing the other guys would be back to the dorms before him. He just hoped nothing more would go wrong today.

After Mark got called into see Herb, Mac decided he better get back to the room. He knew Mark was in a hurry to get back to make sure no one saw Lexi yet. Mac walked in the room and shut the door before speaking.

"Hi, you must be Kelly," Mac said, seeing the girl sitting on the floor coloring with Lexi. She didn't look much like Mark at all, with her dark, and fairly straight brown hair which was pulled back in a ponytail. Mac couldn't really tell what color her eyes were, but it was clear they were nothing like Mark's bright blue. Mac could tell the girl had one thing in common with Mark though; she looked tall, even from her position sitting on the floor.

"Yeah, and you are . . . ?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mac. Robbie McClanahan. I'm Mark's roommate."

"Where's Mark?"

"He's talking to the coach. Hopefully he'll be back soon."

Kelly didn't respond, except for a slight nod, and an awkward silence followed as Kelly went back to coloring. Mac just stood there, waiting for Kelly to say something. After what seemed like an eternity passed, Mac finally decided to break the silence.

"So . . . how do you like Minnesota?"

"I've been here for twelve hours," Kelly replied sarcastically.

"Well, yeah, but do you like it so far?"

"Let's see . . . the airport's really nice. My hotel was okay, the campus is big, this room is crappy than my dorm was back in Wisconsin, and you're sort of annoying."

"What? You barely know me!" Mac said, hardly being able to believe this was Mark's sister. She seemed way too outspoken and sarcastic.

"I know enough."

"Well, Lexi likes me," Mac offered.

"Yeah, I'm sure she does. Especially with the amount you've said to her since you walked in the room."

"He didn't say anything," Lexi piped up.

"I know, sweetie," Kelly told her.

Mac was too dumbfounded to respond. Finally, he quietly said, "Hi Lexi."

"Hi."

"See, she likes me," Mac said.

"He stepped on my dolly," Lexi told Kelly.

"He did?!"

"Mm hmm," Lexi said.

"Did he say he was sorry?" Kelly asked.

"No."

"Yes I did!" Mac protested.

"No you didn't," Lexi said back.

"Yeah."

"No."

Before Mac could continue, Kelly spoke up. "And you're very mature - arguing with a three-year-old." That sarcastic comment got Mac to shut up quickly. For the next few minutes, Mac didn't say much, but just pretended to read a magazine while he waited for Mark to get back, which for him, couldn't come soon enough. Kelly and Lexi went back to coloring, completely ignoring Mac's presence.

When the door finally opened and Mark walked in, Mac was relieved and it showed.

"Finally!" he said, sneaking a quick glance at Kelly, who glared at him. "What did Herb say?"

"He was pissed."

"Hi Daddy!" Lexi said, greeting him with a hug. Mark hugged the little girl back.

"Hi Lexi." Mark turned back to Mac. "Apparently I played like crap at practice, which Herb felt the need to tell me. Not as if I didn't already know I sucked."

"Don't worry about it. You obviously had a lot on your mind."

"Well, now that you're back, I'm gonna get going," Kelly said, walking toward the door.

"Wait, why? Can't you stay a while longer?"

"No, I want to go shopping."

"Can you take her?" Mark asked, looking at Lexi. This made Kelly mad.

"No Mark! Take care of your own daughter. I love her to death, but she's your responsibility. You need to grow up." With that, Kelly said good-bye to Lexi and walked out the door.

"Bye Kelly. Nice meeting you," Mac said, trying to be nice. Kelly's response was slamming the door on her way out.

"What's your sister's problem?" Mac asked Mark.

"She's just has a little more attitude than me. Always has."

"She's a bitch."

"What's a bitch?" asked Lexi.

"Never mind sweetie," Mark told her, giving Mac a warning look.

"But I wanna know."

"How about we go to McDonald's?" Mark asked, knowing that all kids liked McDonald's and guessing right that it would get her to forget about what a bitch was.

"Yay!" she shouted.

"Wanna come?" Mark asked his roommate.

"Only if you're buying," Mac responded, knowing Mark would agree to pay because he didn't want to go alone. "How are you going to get her past the other guys rooms?" Mac then asked.

"Watch and learn," he replied. "Put your shoes on Lexi."

Lexi did as she was told, but had trouble with the laces. After watching her for a minute, Mark realized she didn't know how to tie her shoes. She was just making knots with the laces. He helped and her minutes later they were ready to go.

On the way out, Mark didn't have to explain the three-year-old's presence to anyone, because no one saw them. Mark, Mac, and Lexi had McDonald's for dinner and got back to the dorms a little over an hour after they left. While Mark and Mac finished their two meals each in minutes, it took Lexi forty minutes to eat half of her cheeseburger and a few fries. Once they got back to the dorms, they weren't nearly as lucky with the guys not being around. A bunch of guys were in the hallway, deciding where to go for the night.

"Hey guys," Mark said as he was passing them.

"Hey. Are you two coming out with us tonight?" Silky asked.

"I don't think so. Count me out tonight," Mark said.

"What's with the munckin?" OC asked, noticing the little girl who quickly hid behind Mark. Mac wondered why suddenly Lexi was acting so shy. When he first met her last night, Lexi seemed really outgoing and talkative compared to now.

"Oh, this is Lexi," Mark said, moving to the side so the guys could see her. Lexi made an attempt to hide again.

"Who's Lexi?" Silky asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She flew in with my sister yesterday. I have to watch her for a few days."

"She's your niece?" Suter asked. "I didn't know Kelly had a kid."

"Uh, yeah. She did," Mark lied. Morrow knew Kelly a little because Mark and Suter went to the University of Wisconsin together. It still surprised Mark how Suter didn't know Lexi was his though. Actually, no one that Mark played with in college knew about Lexi. Since Mark's father was the coach, it was pretty easy to keep her a secret.

"Well," Mark started. "I think I'm gonna head back to the room. See you guys later." He walked away with Lexi following close behind.

Mark had to give Lexi credit. For a three-year-old, she listened and followed directions pretty well. Earlier, Mark explained that they were going to play a game. The game was to call Mark "Uncle Mark". Every time she did, Mark promised to give her a dollar. Not that Lexi said anything, but at least she didn't call him "Daddy." Mark didn't realize how shy Lexi was with big groups of people around though. But, if Lexi kept quiet around the guys on the team, it would work to his advantage.

That night, while the guys were out having a good time, Mark was stuck in his dorm with Lexi. She was having a good time, playing with her toys and coloring, while Mark was bored out of his mind. He had no one to talk to, and nothing to do. Even the TV wasn't helping. Nothing good was on, and even if it was, he couldn't pay attention anyway. Mark found it hard to stop watching Lexi and thinking about everything happening in his life.

He barely knew anything about his daughter. So far, he hadn't been around much, and hadn't really seen her grow up. He was too scared of what other people's opinions of him would be to do what was best for Lexi. Suddenly, he felt really guilty for the way he had handled things so far. Everything Kelly had said about him was true. He was immature, irresponsible, selfish, and a terrible parent. Even though he didn't like to admit it, he was also ashamed. How could he have done that to Lexi? It wasn't her fault she had him for a father.

"Daddy?" Lexi called. Mark looked at her. "I called you five times," Lexi told him.

"Sorry Lexi."

"It's okay. Are you sad?"

"No Lexi," Mark said, putting a fake smile on his face.

"Did you miss me?"

"Of course I did Lexi," Mark responded.

"How come you didn't call for a long time?" she asked.

"Well, I'm really sorry about that. It's no excuse, but hockey has taken up a lot of my time."

"Gramma thinks you met a girl," Lexi told him.

"She told you that?" Mark asked, not wanting to tell Lexi that her Grandmother was right.

"No she told Grampa and I heard," Lexi told him proudly, happy that she overheard a conversation. Lexi yawned a minute later and Mark took that as a sign it was about time for her to go to bed.

"How about you get ready for bed and I'll read you a story."

"Okay," Lexi agreed. She put her pajamas on, brushed her teeth and hoped into Mark's bed. Mark made a mental note to himself to go shopping for a little bed for Lexi to sleep on. "Will you tell me a story instead of reading one?" Lexi asked.

"Sure," Mark said, though unsure of what the story would be. He wasn't that creative.

"Tell me a story about when I was a baby."

"Okay," Mark said hesitantly, still unsure of what he would tell her. She was still practically a baby now.

"Gramma tells me stories like that all the time," Lexi went onto say.

"What does she tell you?" Mark wondered. He didn't know how much Lexi knew about her mom, or if she ever even asked about Becky.

"She tells me funny stuff I did and when I learned how to do stuff."

Mark decided to tell her about when she first realized what a mirror was. Lexi was so cute whenever she saw herself in a mirror. She would say "baby" and point to herself. Then she would usually kiss the mirror. Watching herself in a mirror would keep her occupied for what seemed like hours at a time. Often times, she would babble to the mirror too, like she was holding a conversation with her reflection.

Lexi slowly then drifted off to sleep, and Mark was thankful that that was the only story he had to tell for the night.

A/N: Okay, now go review!! It's that little button on the bottom left corner of the page. If I don't get reviews, maybe I won't update ever again . . . lol, okay, that's a lie. But I might wait two weeks before updating instead of one.


	8. Secrets and Lies

meadow567: Yeah, Mark is a worriesome dad. He's just not used to it. But that's why he doesn't really want to date. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this one too.

NellieBly413672: Thanks! Mac's gonna have even more funny parts coming up. And the secret won't be revealed quite yet, but I promise I won't make you wait too long. Enjoy the chapter!

A/N: Okay, here's another. You know the drill. Please read and review! Reviews really help with the writing process and just in general to know whether people like it, love it, or hate it. Reviews always make me really motivated and inspired to write! And thanks to meadow567 and NellieBly413672 for all of your support and continual reviews! I appreciate them.

--

On Saturday, the guys had the day off, which Mark was very thankful for. Kelly stopped by early that morning, and Mark, Lexi, and Kelly went out for the day. Mark was glad no one else was up yet, so explaining anything was easily avoided. He was beginning to think keeping Lexi's true identity as his daughter a secret might not be so hard after all.

"Daddy?" Lexi asked from the backseat when the three of them were in the car.

"Yeah Lexi."

"I'm supposed to call you Uncle Mark or Daddy today?" she asked.

"Mark Johnson! I do not believe you," Kelly said, before Mark could even answer Lexi. "You're actually playing games with your daughter. Making her pretend you're her uncle?!"

"And I call you Mommy," Lexi added. Then, happily, she said, "Then I get dollars!" Lexi sounded as if the 'game' was the coolest thing in the world.

Kelly glared at Mark. "You are unbelievable!"

"Kelly, I just need to wait before I drop this on everyone. If you were in my situation-"

"Mark, I wasn't stupid enough to get into your situation," Kelly shot back. She immediately regretted her harsh words. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Mark knew her words were partially true though.

"It's okay Kelly. I know. I was stupid. And to think I could actually handle raising a kid. Maybe if I thought about what would have been best for her-"

"No Mark. Don't even think about saying something like that. You're not a bad parent. You just need to work on prioritizing. And I'm sorry I've been acting like a complete bitch the past couple of days. I was just trying to make you understand that you have a responsibility."

"I know. But I really don't want the guys to know right away. That's why I told Lexi to call me Uncle Mark."

"You are telling the guys eventually, right?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, of course," Mark told her. In reality, Mark hoped he would never have to tell the guys the truth. Kelly didn't have to know that though.

"Okay, then I guess I can go along with it."

Mark, Lexi, and Kelly enjoyed the rest of their day and by the time they got back to the dorms it was dinnertime.

"I want McDonald's," Lexi announced while they were walking to Mark's room.

"Lexi, we just got back," Mark told her.

"But I weally want it."

"Maybe," Mark said.

"Wait, didn't you go to McDonald's last night?" Kelly asked, sort of remembering hearing from Lexi that they went.

"Yeah," Lexi answered.

"No, you're not having McDonald's again tonight. It's not healthy to eat it every day."

"But Aun- Mommy," Lexi whined, correcting herself from almost saying Aunt Kelly. "That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair," Kelly responded. "You don't want Happy Meals to start growing from your ears, do you?" Lexi's eyes went wide at the thought and she shook her head. Then Kelly turned to Mark, and in a low voice said, "You have to learn to say no to her. Lexi can't always have whatever she wants, just because she wants it. Even if she turns on the tears, you can't always give in to her. You're the parent, you're in charge."

"Okay, Mom," Mark replied sarcastically. Just then, OC walked out of his room into the hallway. He looked at Kelly.

"So this must be the sister," he assumed with a smile.

"Yeah, this is Kelly," Mark told him.

"Hi Kelly," OC said, in a tone that spoke a thousand words.

"I'm not interested in going out with you, and I'm definitely not interested in doing anything else either," she said bluntly.

OC raised his arms in defense. "I wasn't trying to suggest anything. I was simply being nice."

"Yeah, sure," Kelly said. Mark didn't feel a need to jump in and defend his sister, because he knew she could easily take care of herself. He wasn't really the type to live up to the 'protective brother' stereotype anyway. Sometimes, it seemed like Mark and Kelly's roles were completely opposite what they should be.

"Is your mommy always that outspoken?" OC asked the little girl, standing between Mark and Kelly.

Lexi looked at OC, and didn't answer for a minute. During the long pause, Mark thought for sure she'd blow their cover. After a minute of thinking, Lexi answered.

"What's outspoken?" Everyone laughed at Lexi's question, and OC answered.

"It's the nicer way of saying she's a smart ass."

"What's a smart ass?" Lexi asked before Mark or Kelly could scold OC for the comment.

"Why don't we go in Uncle Mark's room?" Kelly suggested to Lexi. Before Kelly pulled Lexi away, she looked at OC.

"Mister, I think mommy is a smart ass," she said. "Cuz I'm like her a lot and I'm smart," Lexi said proudly. OC just laughed, and even though Mark tried not too, he did a little too. Kelly just rolled her eyes and took Lexi's hand.

"Let's go, Lexi," she said, pulling her along.

"Hey Lexi," OC called. "You can call me OC. Or Jack if that's easier."

"More like Jack Ass," Kelly mumbled, though loud enough for Jack to hear.

As Kelly and Lexi walked down the hallway, Mark and OC were left standing there.

"Are you sure she's not adopted?" OC asked Mark. Mark was confused as to who he was talking about.

"I mean Kelly. It's obvious Lexi's her daughter. She's acts just like her."

"No, Kelly's not adopted," Mark said. "And Lexi doesn't act all that much like her."

"Yeah she does. I can tell Lexi's a little firecracker. Your sister's gonna have a hell of a time during Lexi's teen years."

"You think?" Mark asked, a little concerned but trying not to show it.

"Oh yeah. Lexi definitely takes after her mother."

"You'd be surprised," was all Mark followed the comment with. Saving him, Kelly called him from down the hallway.

"Mark, we need the key."

"Well, I gotta go," he told OC. "See you later."

"Hey Mark. Do you think Kelly would want to come out with us tonight? You and Hannah could babysit Lexi. I'm sure Hannah would like that." OC suggested it because he knew Hannah liked kids.

_Shit, I have to call Hannah_, Mark thought wondering what he would tell her about Lexi. He answered OC and said "Maybe," even though he highly doubted it. Then he mumbled, walking down the hallway "It's not really babysitting if it's permanent."

"What?" OC asked, having heard Mark mumble something.

"Nothing," Mark said.

--

Back in Mark's room, Mac was hanging out and playing poker with Rizzo, Bah, and Verchota when Lexi, Kelly, and Mark came back.

"Great, just what we need," Mac grumbled, seeing Kelly.

By this time, the guys all knew who Lexi was. Well, they thought they knew. Mac was still the only one to know she was really Mark's daughter. Word traveled fast, so even the guys that hadn't seen Lexi or Kelly yet knew Mark's sister and niece were in town.

"And you must be Lexi," Rizzo assumed, talking to the little girl. Lexi nodded shyly. "And you must be her mom, Kelly."

"Yeah. And you are . . . ?"

"Mike Eruzione. You can call me Rizzo if you want."

"Nice to meet you," Kelly said. She looked at the other two guys, silently asking who they were.

"I'm Bah."

"And I'm Verchota."

"Hi," Kelly said.

"Is that your doll, Lexi?" Rizzo asked.

"Yeah."

"Does she have a name?" he asked her.

"Molly," Lexi replied.

"That's a nice name."

Kelly took a seat near where Rizzo was sitting. "She got that for Christmas last year and now she doesn't go anywhere without it."

"Since when did you become so good with kids, Rizzo?" Verchota asked.

"I'm just being nice," Rizzo said, shrugging.

"Yeah, how refreshing is that?" Kelly said, glancing at Mac.

"Why don't you like me?" Mac asked.

"I never said that I don't like you," Kelly replied.

"It's obvious. Between death glares and rude, sarcastic comments, you obviously hate me. Rizzo on the other hand, you seem to like right off the bat."

"Well, Rizzo's a nice guy. He's friendly."

"I'm friendly," Mac stated, in an almost defensive tone.

"Well, as far as first impressions go, Rizzo made a better one."

"Sure, everyone likes Rizzo," Mac said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'm a nice guy," Rizzo said smugly.

"I just have a sixth sense when it comes to people," Kelly said. "Five seconds after I meet a person, I can tell if I like them. I read people really well. Unlike my dear brother over there," she said about Mark, who was listening to the conversation. Mark just shrugged when the guys looked at him for confirmation on Kelly's statement. It was true.

"What do you think about me?" Verchota asked.

"You're a lot like OC, but you know how to quit when you're ahead."

"Quit when I'm ahead?" Verchota asked. "I've barely said anything."

"Exactly. You already know that you'll never succeed at getting in my pants, so you didn't bother trying. I actually think I intimidate you a little."

Verchota shook it off. "You don't intimidate me."

"What about me?" Bah asked.

"You seem pretty nice. And I can tell you're like Rizzo in that you're not going to ignore Lexi just because she's little."

"But he hasn't said a word to Lexi!" Mac exclaimed.

"He waved to her and had smiled at her a few times. That's more than I can say for you."

"Well, most of us don't have a lot of experience with little kids," Verchota said.

"Can I play with you?" Lexi interrupted, eying the cards. She wanted to join in playing poker.

"This is a big boy game," Verchota told her.

"So?"

"So you should play with your little dolly over there."

"Molly will play too."

"No," Verchota told her flatly. Lexi's lower lip quavered and everyone that saw the look on her face knew what was coming next. Mark hoped she didn't cry, because he didn't know what to do with a crying three-year-old. Luckily, she turned to Kelly.

"They said I couldn't play," Lexi sobbed, then wiped her face. "He's a meanie!"

Verchota just laughed to his friends, but they didn't find it nearly as amusing. Rizzo thought the way Verchota told Lexi 'no' was mean, and Mac was worried that Kelly would begin throwing fire at them.

Kelly picked Lexi up and stroked her hair, rocking her a little. Seeing Kelly's interaction with his daughter, Mark almost felt a little pang of jealousy. Would he ever learn how to take care of Lexi?

"You can play on my team, Lexi," Rizzo told the upset little girl after she stopped crying.

"Okay," she said, still sniffling a bit.

While Lexi played with the four boys, mainly just throwing out the cards Rizzo wanted her to, Kelly began making dinner, with a little help from Mark.

"Since when do you like cooking?" Kelly asked.

"I don't know," Mark said, half lying. He didn't want to discuss Hannah just then. Once dinner was in the oven, Mark went down the hall to use the phone in Bah's room. He needed to call Hannah, but wanted some privacy.

That night, Mark and Hannah were going to go out bowling with a few of her friends, and possibly some of Mark's teammates, however now Mark couldn't easily go. He had no intension of inviting Kelly too, or even having Kelly and Hannah meet yet. Mark told Hannah that he was really tired and had a long day. He added that he wasn't feeling all that well. Right away, Hannah offered to stop by with chicken noodle soup.

Mark turned down her offer, saying he wasn't flu-sick, but he had a really bad headache. He really wanted to be alone and sleep for the night. Hannah completely understood, and let him off the phone to get some rest.

Although Mark felt really bad lying to her, he felt he had no other choice. Besides, he was getting a headache. It was most likely from the stress build up over the last few days. Lexi's arrival was making his life so much more complicated.

--

Sunday night, Kelly left, and Mark was to take care of Lexi without any help. He still had no idea what he was going to do with her on Monday while he was at practice. By the time Monday rolled around, Mark still didn't have a plan for what to do with Lexi. He ended up dragging her along. Doll in hand, Lexi followed Mark all the way down and into the locker room. Most of the guys were busy getting dressed.

Upon seeing the little girl, Verchota quickly threw his shirt on.

"Girl!" he shouted, getting the other guy's attention. Immediately they all covered up.

"What the hell, Magic?" OC said. "We're getting dressed."

"She's three. What's the big deal?"

"You still don't bring her in here!" Bah said.

"Well, I couldn't leave her outside."

"I thought your sister left last night,"Jimmy said.

"She did."

"Why the hell did she leave her daughter here?" Silky asked.

"It's complicated. I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Well get her out of here. I need to get dressed."

"Fine. Sorry," Mark mumbled.

During practice, Lexi sat in the stands and played with the bag of toys Mark brought to keep her occupied. Mark was glad she didn't cause any interruptions. After practice, Mark went back to his room and made Lexi Macaroni and Cheese for dinner. Since he couldn't go out with the guys, he opted to have Mac and Cheese too.

Again, he was totally bored. Apparently, so was Lexi, because she started walking around the room and getting into everything. Once she started going through Mac's stuff, Mark stopped her. He was afraid of what she might accidentally find.

"Lexi, don't do that. Play with your doll."

"But she's sleeping."

"Well, draw a picture then."

"I already did that."

"Play Candyland," Mark suggested.

"It's a game. I can't play by myself. You need to play."

"I don't want to. You'll have to find something else to do. And you can't go in Mac's stuff either."

"Why?" Lexi asked in a typical three-year-old tone.

"Because it's not yours."

"But I'm bored."

"Fine, let's play Candyland," Mark sighed, giving in. Just before they started, Mac walked in the room.

"Candyland?" he asked.

"Wanna play?" Mark asked him.

"You be green," Lexi said, holding the green man up for Mac.

"Uh, I don't know . . . " Mac began, like he didn't want to play.

"Please Mac," Mark said.

"Yeah, pretty please," Lexi said, giving him a cute look. "With sugar and a strawberry."

"What happened to the cherry?" Mac asked.

"Cherries are gross. Strawberries are yummy," Lexi told him.

"Hey I like that. I think I might use it. I don't really like cherries either," Mac said.

"All right, I guess so."

"So when are you planning on telling Hannah?" Mac asked. Mark didn't answer. "You are planning on telling her, right?"

"Well, maybe."

"Mark, you have to tell her. She's your girlfriend. If you want to keep things going, she's going to have to know eventually."

"Well, I don't know that things are going to last past the Olympics," Mark told him as he took his turn.

"But you like her," Mac said.

"Look Mac, it's just too hard dating when you have a kid. I'm most concerned for Lexi. One, I can't go out all the time with her here, where is she gonna stay? And two, if I get dumped for whatever reason, by any girl, I can get over it. But how to you explain to a little girl that those things happen? She wouldn't understand. I just don't think it's fair to let a three-year-old's heart get broken like that."

"So you're never going to date again, just because of Lexi?"

"I don't know," Mark responded, not really knowing how to answer. He really didn't feel like talking about it.

--

The next day after practice, Mark got back to his room just in time to hear the phone ringing.

"Hello?" he said when he picked it up.

"Hey Mark," Hannah's voice greeted him. "I was beginning to think you fell off the face of the Earth."

"Yeah, sorry about that. The last few days I've been really . . . " Mark paused and looked at Lexi before finishing. "...busy."

"That's okay. I've had a pretty busy few days too. I was wondering what you were up to tonight though. Maybe do you want to get something to eat and see a movie?"

"Uh . . . yeah sure," Mark said, hoping the movie was something Lexi could see too. Hannah took his initial hesitation as that he had other plans, or another idea though.

"Well, we can do anything. I just wanted to see you. Absence might make the heart grow fonder but I'd rather see you again than continue trying to find out," Hannah joked.

"Yeah," Mark said, though Hannah thought he didn't sound like his normal self. He seemed really distant in a way, like something wasn't quite right. "Do you want to come over?" Mark asked. "We can have dinner and hang out here for a while."

"Okay. I'll be over in a little bit. Do you want me to pick up something to eat?" Hannah asked. "We can cook something if you want."

"Sure." After saying their goodbyes and hanging up, Mark turned his attention to Lexi, who was coloring. Over the past few days, he realized that Lexi really enjoyed coloring. "Lexi, my friend is coming over tonight. It's really, really important that you don't call me Daddy."

"Okay," she responded, with a sigh, like she was getting tired of their game. "I won't. Who's coming?" she asked.

"Her name is Hannah."

"It's a girl?" Lexi asked incredulously, as if Mark couldn't have a friend that was a girl. Now of course, Hannah was more than just Mark's friend, but she didn't need to know the details.

"Yeah, lots of boys have friends that are girls."

"Oh," was the reply. A minute later, just as Mark took a drink of water, Lexi had a question. "Do you kiss her?" Upon hearing her question, Mark chocked on the water and couldn't respond for a minute.

"No Lexi," he answered.

"Why not?"

"Who puts crazy ideas in your head?" he asked, answering her question with a question.

"Everybody knows boys and girls kiss," Lexi said, in a tone that made her sound older than three.

"Whatever," Mark said.

"Do I still get dollars?" Lexi asked.

"Yeah, we'll see how good you do tonight."

A little while later, there was a knock at the door that Mark assumed was Hannah.

"Hey Hannah," he said.

"Hey Mark," Hannah replied. Normally, Mark would have added a kiss to his greeting, but because Lexi was standing nearby, Mark was a little embarrassed. Hannah didn't see Lexi right away, and walked in the room. She finally noticed the little girl.

"Who's this?" Hannah asked, looking at Mark for an explanation.

"This is Lexi," Mark said.

"Oh. Hi Lexi," Hannah said smiling at Lexi, but sounding a little confused. "Is she yours?" Hannah then asked, looking and sounding really surprised.

"No, she's my niece. Right Lexi? I'm Uncle Mark," he said smiling, in his own way of reminding Lexi. Hannah didn't really notice Mark's awkwardness.

"Oh, okay," Hannah said, and Mark thought Hannah sounded relieved, which worried him a little.

"You sound relieved."

"Well, I am," she said, laughing a little.

"Would it be that bad if she was my kid?" Mark asked lightly, trying to sound like he was joking.

"Well, it's not that really. I mean, if you have a kid, you have a kid. But I would be surprised that I didn't know about it. Not that we've been dating that long, but we've been dating long enough that having a kid isn't something you'd keep a secret from a boyfriend or girlfriend any longer."

_Oh fuck,_ Mark thought, wanting to kick himself. He screwed up. Now how could he ever tell Hannah the truth?

"Hi Lexi," Hannah said, bending down to the little girl's level. "I'm Hannah."

"Hi," Lexi said. Then, "Does he kiss you?" she asked, talking about Mark.

"Well, girls don't kiss and tell," Hannah replied sort of whispering, and smiled. "She's so cute," Hannah told Mark. "I didn't know you had a niece though. Is your sister in town?"

"No, but I actually have to take care of Lexi for a little while."

"Well, she's adorable."

A while later, the three ate dinner and decided to hang out in the dorm. Mark and Hannah were sort of watching TV, but also playing with Lexi.

"I like your baby doll," Hannah told Lexi while Lexi was 'feeding her'. "You're a good Mommy."

"Yeah," Lexi replied. "She's thirsty so I'm giving her a drink. Wanna feed her?"

"Sure," Hannah said, and took the doll and bottle from Lexi. For the next hour, Hannah played with Lexi while Mark mostly just watched the two. Now he really wished he just came clean about Lexi in the very beginning. Hannah was so good with her. Mark also started imaging what it would be like if Rebecca had stuck around. Sometimes Mark almost wished she had, at least for Lexi's sake. Lexi needed a mother. Hannah would be perfect for that; she was so sweet and Mark could tell she loved kids and was really good with them by the way she played with Lexi. There was no doubt in Mark's mind that Hannah would make a great mother for Lexi. But of course, Hannah would never be Lexi's real mother. Becky would have to give up her legal rights to Lexi, and since Mark hadn't seen or heard from her in over two years, that wasn't likely. But Hannah would make a great mom. And she would probably know exactly how to deal with teenage issues and girl drama that Mark was never any good with.

_Wait. What am I thinking? _Mark thought. _Hannah's not going to be Lexi's mother. Especially not ten years down the road. I've only known her a couple months. Plus, after she finds out the truth, she might never want to see me again._

"Mark, I think someone's ready for bed," Hannah said, pulling Mark from his thoughts. While Hannah had been changing Lexi's doll into pajamas, Lexi fell fast asleep on the floor. As they both watched Lexi sleep for a minute, Hannah said, "Lexi's so cute."

"Yeah, she is pretty cute," Mark said in agreement. "You're so good with her."

"What can I say, I love kids." Hannah replied.

After putting Lexi in bed, Hannah was ready to get going because she had to work the next day.

"Well, I'm sorry about making you entertain a three-year-old tonight," Mark said, apologizing for having their time alone interrupted by Lexi.

"I had fun, Mark. And I really mean that. I didn't mind playing with Lexi at all. She's such a sweet little girl."

"I'm glad I didn't completely ruin your night then," Mark said. He felt a little bad because not only did Hannah have to spend her night playing with Lexi, but Mark also felt bad for half ignoring her the entire night. He had so much else on his mind. Up until then, he didn't think Hannah really noticed though.

"Is everything okay, Mark?" she asked, and Mark could tell she was speaking in really general terms.

"Yeah, I guess I've just been a little distracted the past couple days with Lexi coming. It's not something I really expected."

"If you want to talk about anything, let me know," Hannah offered. "How long is she staying?"

"I'm not sure," Mark answered.

Hannah didn't really press the conversation, because she got the feeling Mark didn't feel comfortable talking about whatever it was that was going on. She sensed the situation with his sister was complicated. Hannah knew that Mark would definitely tell her what was going on when he wanted to.

--

A/N: Okay, now please review. And although I like cherries, in Lexi's words, pretty please with sugar and a strawberry on top. It'll make me really, really happy!


	9. Wild Guesses and Good Theories

Meadow567: Yeah, Mark's a typical guy - stupid, lol. But it'll get even worse when he tells Hannah. And Hannah's going to be worse than mad, but that's next chapter. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!!

NellieBly413672: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. And Kelly sure did shut OC down. Being as cocky as he is though, he deserves it every now and then. Thanks again for the review!

A/N: Hope everyone likes the chapter. Please review when you're done!!

--

"So he's taking care of his niece?" Kristine asked Hannah while Hannah, Maggie, and Kristine were out for dinner the night after Hannah met Lexi.

"Yeah," she said. "Lexi's so cute. She looks sort of similar to pictures I've seen of Mark's sister. But her eyes are almost identical to Mark's. Which is scary weird," Hannah added. "But she's really adorable."

"You've always been a sucker for kids, Hannah," Maggie said. "How long is she staying?"

"I don't know," Hannah answered. "And I don't think Mark wanted to talk about it. I've tried to guess what's going on though, and I have a few options that are winners. My top one is that his sister has some problems . . . either drugs, alcohol, or something like that. I bet she can't take care of Lexi and needs Mark to."

"Do you think she checked into rehab or something?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know. I might not even be right about that. It could be something else that's not so dramatic."

"Are you even sure it's his niece?" asked Maggie.

"No, it's some girl he kidnapped off the streets," Hannah said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean, Hannah," Maggie said.

"Of course I'm sure. Who else could it be?"

"Maybe it's his sister," suggested Kristine.

"Yeah, and why would he lie about that?" Hannah said. "If it's his sister, he'd say it's his sister. He wouldn't randomly say it's his niece."

"Okay, I don't know, I was just taking a guess," replied Kristine.

"Whatever. I'm sure if and when he wants to talk about it, he will," Hannah said. "Now let's talk about something else. I want to know about Maggie's love life."

"Or lack thereof," Maggie replied with a laugh, as the three girls began the next topic of discussion.

--

Over the next week, Mark got more used to having his daughter around and he could tell Lexi was getting used to being around the guys. Maybe almost too used to it. She still called Mark, Uncle Mark, and he was afraid he was going to go broke from having to pay her. But now that Lexi had been there about two weeks, Mark didn't know how to just come out and say that Lexi was his daughter. After so long, he didn't know how the guys would take it. And Hannah was a completely different story.

Mark could tell that Hannah really liked Lexi, but as Mark's niece. The night before, Mark and Hannah went bowling and brought Lexi along. For once, Mark didn't feel people giving him looks of disapproval all night. But when Hannah asked about Mark's sister, Mark just said he didn't want to talk about it. Hannah said she was fine with it, but Mark could tell she was really curious and wanted to know. Mark didn't know how to tell Hannah that Lexi was really his daughter. He didn't think she'd be thrilled to find out he had a kid.

"Mac, will you play Candyland with me?" Lexi asked while Mark was trying to make something for Lexi to eat for dinner.

"I guess so munchkin, but I'm leaving for a date in an hour."

"Where are you going?" Lexi asked.

"I don't know. Probably out for dinner and to a movie. Then, if I'm really lucky, I'll go back to her place," Mac said, grinning. He knew Lexi was clueless as to what that meant.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you go to her house? Is her mommy and daddy going to be there?"

"I sure hope not," Mac said, again grinning.

"Why?"

"Because, I want to have some fun with her alone."

"What are you going to do?" Lexi asked.

"Do you always as so many questions?" Mac asked, trying to avoid answering the question.

"I don't know," Lexi shrugged. "Will you play games at her house?"

"Yeah. We're gonna play doctor," Mac said, trying to keep a straight face. He thought it was really amusing speaking in code in front of Lexi. In fact, the whole team did.

"I play that with Sara!" Lexi said, excited that Mac would play the same game as her. Mac was now laughing even more.

"Who's Sara?" Mark asked, ignoring Mac's immaturity.

"My best friend. She lives next to Gramma and Grampa."

"Oh, okay," Mark said. He didn't remember a Sara ever living next to his parents.

"Okay, let's play Candyland," Mac said. "I'll go first."

"No, I go first," Lexi said, now forgetting about their previous conversation.

"You went first last time."

"So, the youngest always goes first."

"But Lexi," Mark started, walking over to them. "You act older. He acts like he only three. And you're almost four."

"Hey!" Mac said in protest.

"Hay is for horses," Lexi told him.

"Take your turn, munchkin," Mac told her.

Lexi and Mac played their game, and Lexi was ahead until the very end. Then she got the Molasses Swamp card and had to go back almost to the beginning.

"Oh shit!" she exclaimed.

"Lexi!" Mark said in a scolding tone. Mac, after his initial surprise, began laughing.

"What?" Lexi asked, thinking nothing was wrong.

"Lexi, that's a bad word. You can't say those words."

"But he does," Lexi said, pointing to Mac.

"Well, I don't care what he does. His mom and dad probably don't like when he says those words either."

"But he still says it."

"I don't care. It's not nice to say that word, or any other swear word, and I don't want you saying them."

"Okay. I'm sorry Daddy."

"Lexi, remember. It's-" Mark didn't even have to finish.

"Uncle Mark," Lexi sighed. "Why can't I call you Daddy yet?"

"You can soon." Mark told her. Mac now backed Lexi up.

"Yeah, Mark. You need to tell everyone the truth. I'm tired of lying."

"You're not lying."

"I'm lying by omission. It's the same thing. Right Lexi?"

"Right," she said, even though she had no idea what omission meant.

Mac continued. "When the guys talk about your sister and when Lexi's leaving, I just nod and say 'yeah', trying my hardest not to say anything."

"I'm leaving?" Lexi asked, looking sad.

"No Lexi," Mark told her.

"Good. Because I like being here with you." Mark and Mac exchanged a glance but neither responded to Lexi's comment.

--

On Friday afternoon, the guys were changing after practice when they began talking about Mark and Lexi again. Mark had left the locker room minutes before.

"Does anyone think they know what's really going on?" OC asked. "I mean, why would Kelly dump her kid here for two weeks and leave?"

"Yeah," Bah agreed. "She doesn't seem like the kind of mother to do that."

"Maybe Lexi's not her kid," Rizzo said.

"Then whose kid is it?" OC challenged, trying to make Rizzo come up with something plausible.

Rizzo didn't reply, but Buzz could tell exactly what he was thinking.

"No way in Hell, Rizzo."

"What?" Silky, OC, and Bah said at the same time.

"No way in Hell," Buzz said again. Rizzo ignored the previous question, and directed Buzz.

"Well, think about it . . . Magic didn't want anything to do with dating when he first got here. Then, after we're here a couple months, his sister comes with Lexi, stays a few days, and leaves without Lexi. Now Magic is totally taking care of her, and doesn't even address Lexi ever leaving. It's like she's not leaving. If Kelly was really her mother, the kid would leave eventually. It's not like there's any reason why Kelly can't take care of her. And Lexi is pretty attached to Mark for only being her uncle."

"What the Hell's going on?" Silky asked, completely confused.

"But I think we would know if that was the case," Buzz replied. Rizzo and Buzz were still ignoring the questions. "And Mac would definitely know. They're roommates." Rizzo and Buzz looked over at Mac, who was trying to pretend he didn't hear the previous conversation.

"Timeout!" Silky shouted. "First, what are you two talking about? Second, Mac, what do you 'definitely know'?" Silky asked, using air quotes.

"I don't know anything," Mac said, almost too quickly.

"What's the deal with the munchkin?" OC asked.

"She's Magic's niece. What else is there to know?"

"You're lying!" Rizzo accused.

"Am not!" Mac said in defense.

"Mac, don't make me beat you up again," OC told him. "Start talking." OC was still unaware of what Rizzo and Buzz had been talking about, but he figured he'd find out.

"I swear I don't know anything," Mac said, this time in a much more believable tone.

"Well, do you think Lexi seems pretty attached to Mark?" Rizzo asked. "For only being her uncle I mean?"

"What exactly are you suggesting?" Bah asked.

"I want to know what the Hell is going on," Silky said. With all of the arguing, now the remainder of the team joined in, wanting to know.

"Rizzo here is beginning to think that Lexi is Mark's," Buzz announced, though he let the end of the sentence hang, like he wasn't really done.

"Mark's what?" Bah asked.

"Mark's kid," Buzz said, like it wasn't a big deal.

"No way!" a bunch of the guys said at the same time.

"Rizzo, wait until we tell Magic your crazy idea!" Bah said. "That's ridiculous. We'd know for sure if Lexi wasn't his niece."

"Would we?" Rizzo asked.

"She calls him 'Uncle Mark'," Silky then pointed out.

"Lexi's his niece," Mac said, feeling the need to lie on Mark's behalf, though the statement was weak and no one really heard him.

"Guys, let me clear something up," Suter said. "I've known Mark for years. If he had a kid, I would know."

"You didn't know Kelly had a kid," OC reminded him.

"Yeah, and I hardly ever talked to Kelly. And now that I recall my college hockey days, a little girl did come to the games occasionally. With Magic's mom and sister. It must have been Lexi. I just never asked who she was."

"So you're sure she's not Mark's?" Rizzo asked.

"Positive," Suter said.

"Okay fine. I still think something strange is going on though," Rizzo said, not entirely convinced.

--

Mac felt like a man on a mission when he left the locker room. He had to tell Mark what happened minutes before.

"Mark," he said, throwing the door open. He half-startled Lexi, who had a stunned look on her face. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay, slow down Mac. What's going on?"

"Rizzo knows."

"He knows?" Mark asked, knowing full well what 'knows' meant. "How?"

"He guessed. The other guys are convinced he's wrong but . . . Mark, you have to tell them. And Hannah. You have to tell her too."

"Okay," Mark said, sounding unsure.

"And when the guys talk about what happened in the locker room, laugh it off."

"I thought you wanted me to tell them?" Mark questioned.

"I do. But if you don't want to in two minutes, laugh it off."

"Are they coming here now?" Mark asked, surprised.

"I don't know."

"Crap. How do I tell them?"

"You're asking me?" Mac asked. "All I know is that there's twenty guys who have had the idea that you could be Lexi's father planted in their head. Even though they don't believe it, you can be sure they'll be watching for signs."

"Okay. I'll tell them. I promise," Mark said. "As for Hannah . . . I'm not making any promises." Mac gave him a disapproving look, but thought telling the guys would be a start.

--

Sunday night, the team had their weekly team dinner. The weekend went by so fast, but most of them were looking forward to the week because they had three games coming up. Up until that point, Mark had chickened out of telling the guys three times the chance arose. After Mac practically yelled at him again, he was ready to drop the bomb on them that night. He knew that telling the team meant telling the coaches too, which he planned on doing the next morning. Mark wanted to wait until after Lexi went to bed though. Normally he stayed in his room after he put Lexi to bed, but he knew it was imperative that he told the guys tonight.

"Hey guys," Mark said, between innings of the baseball game they were watching. It was game five of the World Series and Pittsburgh needed to win to keep the series going. With the exception of OC, the guys wanted the Pirates to win. However, since Mac wanted the Pirates, OC wanted the Orioles. Even though OC and Mac got along more now, they still loved arguing over as much as possible, especially sports. "I need to talk to you all about something," Mark said, though not receiving the attention he wanted.

Mac looked up though, and gave Mark an encouraging look. Inside, Mac was breathing a sigh of relief, glad that Mark was getting this over with. Still, not all of the guys were paying attention though, and Mark didn't want them to miss anything. Telling them wasn't something he wanted to relive over and over again.

"It's about Lexi and why she's here."

Now he had everyone's attention.

"I know there's been some speculation," he said, looking directly at Rizzo. On Saturday, OC and Silky explained what had happened in the locker room and as Mac suggested, Mark laughed it off. "And it's not fair to not be completely honest with you guys. You're my teammates and we have to trust each other."

"Get on with it already," Silky said.

"Lexi's my daughter," Mark stated, plain and simple. Now, except for the background noise of the TV, a pin drop could have been heard. Rizzo bit his tongue from saying anything, because clearly now wasn't the time to brag about being right.

"I hope that means you lied about Kelly being your sister too," Verchota said, trying to make light of the situation.

"No, Kelly's my sister," Mark said. Verchota and Rammer both looked stunned and disgusted.

"Kelly's Lexi's aunt, not her mother, stupid," OC whispered them.

"Oh," they said in realization.

"Guys, I'm really sorry for lying. I know you're probably pissed and you have a right to be, but I thought you wouldn't really . . ." Mark trailed, trying to search for the right word. But, not really coming up with anything great, he continued anyway " . . . approve, of me having a kid. I thought you'd look at me like I got looked at whenever I took her anywhere when she was a baby."

"So Lexi's yours?" OC asked, in disbelief. Mark nodded meekly. "I can't believe Rizzo was right after all!"

"You had us all going for a long time. How did we not figure it out sooner?" Bah asked.

"You had them going for a long time, but you had me going for a century," Suter said. "All those years at Wisconsin and I never knew!"

"Wait a minute!" Silky said. "If you have a kid, hat means you knocked up some girl!"

"I told you I wasn't a virgin," Mark stated. He didn't really want to joke around too much now, because he was still a little afraid some of the guys were made at him. Not everyone was saying much.

"But I would have never thought you were capable of getting someone pregnant!"

"Thanks, Silky," Mark said dryly.

"No, seriously. I mean, how did that happen?"

"That's a story for another day. I have to get back to my room. Lexi's asleep and I don't want to leave her there alone."

Mark was really glad that the guys seemed to take it so well. If that was any sign of how things would go with Hannah too, he would have no problem telling her.

--

Then next morning, Mark couldn't tell the coaches because Herb was running a little late and Craig started practice. Doc did know though, because he was in the locker room that morning when the guys were still buzzing about it. He, like Rizzo, hadn't seemed too surprised.

"I had a feeling Lexi wasn't just your niece," Doc told him, and smiled. "You really treat her like your daughter. I know that father-daughter bond when I see it."

After practice, Mark walked up to Herb's office to talk to him about Lexi and everything that had been going on. A few of the guys were wondering why Mark even bothered, because after all, it wasn't really Herb's business. But then again, anything that affected the team or one of his players was Herb's business. Mark never actually told Herb or Craig that Lexi was his niece, because they never asked, but Mark knew that Craig probably heard before because he was close with the guys and Herb probably heard from Craig.

"Hey coach," Mark said, poking his head in the open door.

"Hi Magic. Is something going on?"

"Uh yeah. I actually just wanted to tell you something."

"I'm glad you're here, because we actually wanted to talk to you and Mac about something," Herb said.

"Oh?"

"Well, it's nothing big, but Craig and I were discussing, and we really like you two on the same line. There's a chemistry when you're on the ice together and we just wanted to tell you to keep up the good work. For the game tomorrow, we're going to try the two of you with Silky."

"Sounds good," Mark said.

"Now what did you want to talk to me about?" Herb asked.

"Well, I don't know if you noticed the little girl around the past couple weeks," Mark started.

"Lexi?" Herb asked. So obviously he had heard about Lexi and wasn't completely clueless.

"Yeah. Well, you may have heard that she's my niece. But Lexi's actually my daughter."

"I know," Herb said, not expressing much emotion of any kind.

"Wait. How do you know?"

"Mark, I know a lot about my players."

"But how did you find out?" Mark asked.

"I have my ways of knowing these things. Plus, I've spoken with your father and if I didn't already know before the tryouts, I would have found out two weeks ago anyway."

"You talked to my dad?" Mark asked in disbelief. He thought they hated each other.

"Yeah, he was checking up on you. And although we don't get along, we do both have something in common. We want what's best for you. He as a father wants to see that, and myself as a coach."

"So you knew when you took me on the team?" Mark asked, now knowing that his initial worries about telling people were pointless.

"Yeah, I knew. And if you were focused enough on your game all those years in college, I knew that wouldn't change now."

"Okay."

"Have you told the boys yet?"

"Last night."

"How did they take it?" Herb asked.

"Pretty well. Considering I've been lying to them about it. There's only a couple guys I'm not sure about." Mark wasn't really sure why he was talking to Herb about everything, especially because Herb wasn't usually interested in affairs not related to hockey. But it did show Mark that Herb had a human side to him.

"Good," Herb said. "And Mark, if you ever need a babysitter, Patty would probably love watching her."

"Okay, thanks coach."

Mark was glad that was out of the way. And now he had two possible babysitters lined up. Herb offered for Patty and earlier in the day, Doc offered for Velta. If Mark had known originally that having Lexi here wasn't as hard as he imagined, he would have told everyone a long time ago. But, Mark still needed to tell Hannah, and he wasn't looking forward to it. Though, so far, no one else had a terrible reaction to his news, so maybe Hannah wouldn't either.


	10. Pretty, Pretty Princess

iheartobama: Thank you so much for the review! I love hearing that people are enjoying the story. I glad you like it so far and enjoy the chapter.

Meadow567: Yeah, Rizzo had to be the one to figure it out, lol. He's smart and nothing gets past him. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

NellieBly413672: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it. Originally Herb wasn't going to know, but I guess a little writer's block is sometimes good, because that's how I got the idea. Anyway, you'll see how Hannah reacts this chapter.

A/N: Sorry I couldn't get this up sooner. I really wanted to but lately I've been so busy with school. Oh well, at least my semester's almost over. One week left!! But unfortunately, then I have exams and my MCAT to study for. But at least I won't have classes, so I'll should still have a little more time to write. Anyway, I hope everyone likes the chapter. Please review when you're done!!

--

Another week went by, and Mark had yet to tell Hannah about Lexi. Everyone was getting on his case about it too. But this week, Mark had other things on his mind. Halloween was in two days, and Lexi wanted to go trick-or-treating. Mark hadn't bought her a costume though, and didn't even know where to take her. It wasn't like there were many houses really close by, and he really didn't want to spend the night driving to other neighborhoods either, just so Lexi could get candy. If she wanted candy that bad, he'd take her to the store and buy her some.

"Lexi, what are you going to be for Halloween," Hannah asked while Mark, Hannah, and Lexi were out for dinner.

"I want to be a princess," Lexi said. "I want to wear a pretty dress and sparkly shoes. And I need a crown."

"That sounds like a great costume. Did Uncle Mark help you pick it out?" Hannah asked. Lexi shook her head. "Mark, Halloween's in two days. We should go look for a costume right after dinner. They're all going to be gone by this time."

"Personally I don't see what the big deal is with Halloween," Mark told Hannah. He turned to Lexi. "Lexi, why don't you be a hockey player. Then we won't need to go look for a costume."

"Because I'm not a boy," Lexi said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, geeze, Mark. Can't you see that Lexi's a girl?" Hannah said, backing Lexi up.

"Well, I'm not raising my-" Mark stopped short, catching himself about to say daughter, then he continued, "niece, to be a little diva. She needs to be a sports fan too."

"She can be," Hannah said. "But for Halloween, let her be a princess. I'll even take her to buy a costume. You don't even have to set foot in the store."

As tempting as the offer was, Mark did end up going with them after dinner to pick out a costume anyway. Lexi tried on her costume before they bought it, and Mark had to admit she looked pretty cute in her pink dress and sparkly crown. Hannah also found shiny pink shoes to go with Lexi's outfit.

--

The next morning, Mark and the guys were getting ready for practice when Mark started complaining about having to take Lexi trick-or-treating.

"I don't even know where I'm gonna take her. I don't know the area around here. And it's going to be totally boring for me."

"Why don't you bring Hannah?" said OC.

"Because he hasn't told her yet," Mac said, shooting Mark a glance.

"You have a serious problem," OC commented. "When are you telling her?"

"Never," Mac said, answering for Mark. Mark gave Mac a dirty look.

"I am going to tell her. Just not yet. I need to prepare myself and really think this through."

"Yeah, and at your rate, you'll be 180 thousand dollars in debt from paying Lexi a dollar every time she calls you Uncle Mark, and the Olympics will be over and you'll be gone," Bah said.

"Anyway," Mark said, ignoring Bah, "Hannah can't come with us. She's handing out candy at her apartment for a little while and then going out with her friends or something. They always go to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Halloween."

"Where are they showing that?" Silky wondered out loud. "I wanna go see it."

"Why don't we all go?" suggested Buzz. "It'll be fun."

The guys discussed this as Mark groaned to himself. Another night staying home with Lexi while the guys got to have fun. Mark knew it was his fault he couldn't go out, but he wished he could. Verchota seemed to notice his disappointment.

"You can come too, Magic," Verchota said.

"Yeah, like I'm bringing Lexi to see Rocky Horror."

"I thought you've had babysitting offers from Patti and Velta," said Mac.

"Yeah, but I have to take her trick-or-treating anyway. She got this cute princess costume and everything."

"Why don't you bring her around the dorms?" suggested Verchota.

"Because, none of us are going to be around," Silky said. "We're going out and having fun. Something Magic apparently can't do anymore," he added with a laugh.

"Well, Lexi can go trick-or-treating before we leave. Then Mark can drop her off wherever and he can join us," Verchota explained.

"Oh my God, Verchota has a good idea for the first time in his life!" joked Bah. Verchota rolled his eyes.

"That is a really good idea though," said Mac. "But now we all have to buy candy."

"Which gives us an excuse to buy it and then eat the leftover," Buzz pointed out.

After that, it was decided. Lexi would trick-or-treat around the dorms and then everyone would go to see the movie. Mark was still unsure about dumping Lexi on someone else, because he felt like he was imposing, but he figured that he'd go along with the plan for now anyway.

--

"Mark, you need to tell Hannah. If you don't tell her, I will," Mac told Mark while they were hanging out in their room later that night. Lexi was already asleep and the guys were trying to find something on TV. Baseball season was over, Pittsburgh won the series, and there weren't any hockey games on that night either.

"No, you won't," Mark said, in response to Mac's threat.

"The way I see it is that I'll be doing you a favor."

"How's that? If I don't tell her, she'll think I don't want her to know."

Mac gave Mark a funny look, obviously he didn't want Hannah to know, or he would have mentioned it already, but Mac didn't say anything about that. He did say, "Because then you won't have to tell her, and it'll be out in the open."

"She's gonna be pissed though. If you had a girlfriend, and found out that she had a kid, how would you feel?"

"Well, I might be a little put off by the fact, but I wouldn't break up with her because of that."

"Really?" Mark asked surprised.

"Would you?"

"Well, I guess I haven't thought about it," Mark admitted.

"I only think she'll be a little mad because you've been putting off telling her and lying. But she's nice so she'll get over it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mark asked.

"Nothing really. I just mean that I don't think she'll stay mad at you forever. She seems like the type to forgive and forget."

"I don't want to tell her with Lexi around though."

"Why don't you tell her on Halloween?" Mac suggested. "Lexi won't be there, Patti's watching her." After practice Mac and Verchota made arrangements, unbeknownst to Mark, that Patti was going to watch Lexi while Mark went out to the movie.

"Everyone else is going to be around then though. I'd rather tell her while we're alone."

"So, after the movie, you and Hannah can go back to her apartment. Then you'll be alone and you can tell her."

"But I'll need to get Lexi," Mark said. Now he was trying to suggest that Mac pick up Lexi without being too forward about it.

"I'll get her," Mac groaned, knowing that's exactly where Mark was going. "I can't believe you trust me with your daughter though."

"You're the only one besides Rizzo and Jimmy that I would trust with her."

"Great," Mac said sarcastically. "But I'm not doing this all the time."

"I know," Mark replied.

--

Just after dinner on Halloween, Lexi was ready to go trick-or-treating. A lot of the guys wore costumes, although most were simple, like cowboy hats or hockey jerseys. Some costumes however, were a little more interesting. Bah, Buzz, and Pav actually dressed up as the real Coneheads, Verchota and Mac dressed up in togas as guys from Animal House, and Silky and OC dressed up as 'hicks from Minnesota', which was really funny because they pretty much looked like farmers with suspenders on their pants, plaid shirts, big ugly boots, cowboy hats, and straw in their mouth.

As Lexi ran around from room to room, getting candy, Mark hung around his room and watched her from the doorway, while talking to Mac and Verchota. At OC's door, Mark noticed Lexi laugh while OC told her something. He instantly had a bad feeling about that.

A few minutes later, Lexi was back down to get candy from Mac.

"Trick-or-treat, smell my feet gimme something good to eat," Lexi began singing. Now OC, looking amused, was walking toward them. Lexi turned around and looked at him. "I don't remember the rest," she told OC.

He helped her by saying, "If you don't, I don't care-"

"I'll pull down your underwear!" Lexi finished happily, jumping up and down.

"Thanks, OC," Mark said sarcastically.

"Here you go, Lexi," Mac said, putting a piece of candy in her pail.

"Only one?" Lexi said, putting a sad puppy dog look on her face.

"Yeah," Mac answered.

"But you have lots," she said.

"So, need to keep some."

"But, I'm collecting candy for poor, dying kids. I need more."

"What the hell?" Mac said.

"OC!" Mark said, assuming he gave her that idea too. It was obvious she didn't think of that herself. Lexi collecting candy to give to other kids, yeah right.

"Don't look at me. That's all Silky's doing," OC said.

"Silky, you played the 'dying kids' card too?" Verchota yelled down the hall to him. "I always said it was my sister that was dying though, which made people give me even more candy."

"Yeah, every year," Silky answered. "My parents always wondered how I ended up with double or triple the candy than my sister."

--

A little while later, the guys were on their way to the movie to meet up with Hannah and her friends. Mark's car was detouring to the Brook's house first to drop off Lexi, as Patti was watching her that night.

When they arrived at the theater, Hannah, Maggie, Kristine, who were dressed as Charlie's Angels, and a few of Hannah's other friends from work were waiting outside.

"You girls look hot!" Silky commented. "Especially you Maggie . . . or should I say, Jill." Jill's character on the show was usually a favorite among guys because she was played by Farrah Fawcett the first season.

"Why thank you . . . whatever you are," Maggie said, not knowing what Silky was dressed as. "A farmer maybe?"

"A Minnesotan hick," he replied proudly.

Maggie just laughed. "Okay then."

"Which one of you is Sabrina and which is Kelly?" asked Silky about the other two girls.

"I'm Kelly," responded Kristine.

"And I'm Sabrina," said Hannah. "Unfortunately. They wouldn't let me be Kris." Kris replaced Farrah Fawcett's character after the first season.

"But that wouldn't fit. You're not blonde," OC pointed out.

"I know. But she's my favorite."

"Yeah, she's hot. But Farrah's the best," said Silky.

"Let's go find some seats," Bah said. As the guys were walking in the theater, Mark finally got to say hi to Hannah.

"You look great Hannah," Mark told her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Your cowboy costume is great," Hannah commented.

"Yeah, thanks," Mark said, although his guess was that she was only saying it to be nice. He knew it wasn't very original.

"Well, you're an exceptionally hot cowboy," Hannah said, pulling him close to kiss him.

--

After the movie, which everyone enjoyed, Mark left with Hannah to go to her apartment. He realized that it probably was a good night to tell her because he didn't have a car with him. Hannah was driving so she'd have to give him a ride home. Mark knew she wouldn't make him walk even if she was mad.

"So where's Lexi?" Hannah asked. She just knew that someone was watching Lexi, but she wasn't sure who.

"She was with Herb's wife Patti, but Mac's picking her up and he's putting her to bed."

"I hope nothing too crazy happens then," Hannah said. "Aren't you worried?"

"No, Lexi'll be fine. Plus, she'll be asleep. I'm not worried."

"I wasn't talking about Lexi. I'm talking about Mac. He's the one you should be worried about. I'm not so sure he can handle a three-year-old," Hannah joked. Mark laughed.

"He'll be fine. I just really wanted some time alone with you. It's hard to do anything with a three-year-old constantly around." Hannah knew it was true, but instead of sounding like it was a big deal, she made a joke.

"Do anything . . . what does anything entail?" she said suggestively.

"Oh, I can think of a few things," Mark said back.

When they got back to Hannah's apartment, they hung out for a while, talking and watching tv, and then they started making out.

"Mac's services don't expire at any certain time, right?" Hannah asked between kisses.

"No. That's the benefit to having him as a babysitter and a roommate."

Mark and Hannah continued kissing and then Mark began thinking about telling Hannah. He wanted to savor some more alone time with her though, because if she got mad and stopped speaking to him for a few days, there wouldn't be any making out in store for him.

As his shirt came off though, and the buttons on Hannah's were being slowly being worked at, Mark knew he had to stop and tell her. He pulled away, breathless.

"Hannah, I need to tell you something."

"Let's talk about it later," Hannah said, pulling him close again.

Mark pushed away. "No, I need to talk to you now." From the look on Mark's face, Hannah could tell it was serious.

"What is it?"

"It's about Lexi."

"What about her?" Hannah said, sitting up on the couch. Now Mark was sitting on the opposite end of the couch, looking at Hannah. He really didn't want to tell her, and looking into her soft brown eyes, he realized that he'd never seen her angry before. Mark really didn't want to either.

He sighed, then said, "Lexi's not my niece."

Hannah's conversation with her friends just two weeks prior came rushing back. If Lexi wasn't his niece, who was she? "Who is she?" Hannah managed to ask, still not exactly knowing what to think.

"She's my daughter."

"You're what?!" Hannah practically screamed, her look of shock turning to anger.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't say anything before, but I wanted to wait until the right time to tell you."

"Get out!" Hannah yelled.

"What?" Mark asked, confused. Although he thought she'd be angry, he wasn't exactly expecting this.

"Get out of my apartment," Hannah said, standing up. She threw Mark's shirt at him and buttoned her shirt.

"Hannah, can I just explain?" Mark asked, half begging.

"Explain what? That you've been lying to me for months? You don't need to explain. As far as I'm concerned, you don't need to explain anything."

"But Hannah, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to scare you off by telling you earlier."

"So you thought it would be a good fucking idea to lie to me?! Mark, get out!"

Mark was beginning to get the message. Hannah was clearly completely pissed off. Her face was bright red, and that was the first time Mark ever heard her swear. He was also afraid she was going to wake up her neighbors. She was being pretty loud.

"Okay, I'll go." Mark figured he'd call her after she had a day to cool off a little. Hannah followed him to the door to usher him out and once Mark got to the door he turned around to say goodbye. Now he noticed Hannah trying to hold back tears. She wasn't only angry, but clearly hurt too.

"Hannah," Mark started and went to brush his hand against her cheek. She pulled away from his touch.

"Don't touch me. Just leave," she said. "I don't want to look at you, and I don't want to talk to you."

"I'm sorry," Mark tried again.

"Save your apologies for someone who cares."

"Hannah, you drove me here, remember?" Mark reminded her, knowing she would still give him a ride.

"Call a cab. I'm not driving you home." Although Mark didn't expect that, he didn't complain.

"Can I use your phone?"

"No."

"How can I call a cab then?" he asked, now getting a little ticked off.

"I don't know. Walk if you can't figure something out," Hannah said, cooly, now attempting to shut the door in his face. Mark held out his hand though to stop her, and since he was much stronger, it was no problem.

"Hannah, what can I do to get you to let me explain?" Mark asked.

"Absolutely nothing, because I have no interest in listening to anything you say ever again, or seeing you ever again for that matter."

Mark tired to defend himself, but just as he opened his mouth, Hannah cut him off.

"I really thought you were a good guy, Mark. But I guess I was way wrong."

"I am a good guy," Mark tried.

"Good guys don't repeatedly lie to their girlfriends. You've been lying to me since we've met. I don't know whether I can believe anything you've ever said. And do not make this about Lexi. She has nothing to do with this. You brought everything on yourself. And here's a little parenting advice, because I think you might need it. Maybe try teaching Lexi to be an honest person, Mark. I sure hope she doesn't turn out like you!"

Mark, stung by Hannah's words, loosened his grip that was still holding the door open. Hannah seized her opportunity to shove Mark out of her doorway and slammed the door shut. Now Mark was left standing outside, bewildered. _What was that all about?_ Mark wondered. _Did she dump me, or is she just mad? _He really thought it was more like being dumped, but he supposed that only time would tell. Along with those thoughts, Mark was also wondering if Hannah was truly just mad at the fact that he lied to her. He thought for sure that she would be mad about Lexi being his daughter, but not just because he lied. Didn't she realize that he lied for a reason?


	11. First Fight or Only Fight?

Katydid13: Thanks for the review! And you're right, Mark is going to have trouble explaining this... especially since at this point Hannah won't let him. Thanks again and enjoy the chapter!

iheartobama: Yeah, Hannah was super upset, but you'll see why her reaction was so strong this chapter. Thanks for the review!!

Meadow567: Well, I'm not telling you whether you're right or wrong because I don't want to give anything away. But what kind of story would it be with no girlfriend for the main character. Anway, thanks for reviewing!

NellieBly413672: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, Hannah was really upset, but you'll see why she sort of had a reason to be. Thanks again.

A/N: I want to thank everyone again for the reviews - I really appreciate them. They're great to read. Anyway, sorry this is sort of short. I've been so busy with my semester ending.

--

After Mark left Hannah's apartment that night, Hannah didn't get much sleep. She still couldn't believe that Lexi was Mark's daughter. And if that wasn't enough of a shock, added to that was the fact that he lied to her. Hannah actually wasn't mad Lexi was his daughter at all. She loved Lexi and thought Mark was really responsible for stepping up and being a dad. That didn't forgive the fact that he lied to her face though. After an hour of going between being livid with Mark, to being angry with herself, to crying over how stupid she was, and over what he did to her, Hannah called Maggie.

"Hello?" a really sleepy sounding Maggie answered the phone.

"You'll never guess what that lying, jerky, stupid asshole did to me!" Hannah started off yelling into the phone. Right now she was at a 'livid with Mark' stage.

"Hannah? Is that you?" Maggie asked. She was clearly sleeping when Hannah called.

"Yes, it's me. And you'll never believe what he did."

"Okay, first, you better have a damn good reason for waking me up and calling at 3:30 in the morning. And second, I'm assuming the lying, jerky asshole must be Mark."

"Yes, it's Mark. And I should be blaming you too because all of this is your fault for setting me up with him!" Hannah said, irrationally.

"What happened?" Maggie asked and sighed, thinking that there was a possibility that Hannah was over exaggerating.

"Lexi's his daugther!" Hannah screamed into the phone.

"What?!" Maggie asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I know, right? His daughter. He's been flat out lying to me for months! It's not even like he was just hiding it, but he told me Lexi was his niece. He told everyone that! And tonight while we were making out, he just stopped and told me that Lexi was his daughter! And then he wanted to explain. Like I wanted to hear anything his lying ass wanted to say. Why did you set me up with a hockey player? They're all lying jerks!"

"Okay, Hannah, slow down. They're not all jerks. It's just an unfortunate coincidence that you get the jerky guys, okay," Maggie told her. She could tell her friend was upset just by how quickly she was talking. Whenever Hannah got angry, she could go on yelling for hours without stopping for a breath. "Want me to come over?"

"No, I just really wanted to vent to someone. I'm really pissed off, you know? I thought he was one of the good ones. I was obviously wrong. I'm always wrong. I have the worst instincts ever! It's so frustrating," Hannah said, now her anger turning to sadness again.

"Hey, Hannah. Don't get upset. If he's that much of a lying jerk, you're better off without him. You deserve someone so much better than him," Maggie told her, trying her best to console her friend over the phone. "Are you sure you don't want me to come over?"

"Yeah. But how about we do lunch tomorrow or something? I need some comfort food."

"Then how about we skip lunch and go to that place that has the really good chocolate cake?" Maggie suggested.

"Okay."

"I'll call Kristine tomorrow and tell her." Maggie and Hannah stayed on the phone a few more minutes and then hung up. Hannah still couldn't really sleep to well, because she had too much on her mind. She really couldn't get over the fact that Mark had lied for that long. There was no excuse for pretending Lexi was his daughter.

--

When Mark finally got back to the dorms that night, Mac was still up. "How was it?" he asked, hoping to God that Mark finally told her.

"Not good. She made me walk home."

"I would have come to pick you up. You should have called."

"She wouldn't let me use her phone," Mark told him. Mac couldn't help but laugh a little. "Mac, it's not funny. She's really pissed off. I've never seen her so mad before." Mark paused a few seconds, then added, "I've never seen anyone that mad before."

"At least you got it over with," Mac said, in an attempt to make him feel a bit better.

"Yeah, and I think it cost me the relationship."

"She dumped you?" Mac asked, a little surprised.

"I'm not sure." Mark went on to explain what Hannah said, and how he wasn't sure what was going to happen.

"So she's just mad because you lied to her?"

"Yeah, apparently."

"Well, it was a big lie, so I'll give her that."

"But it was for a reason!" Mark said, getting a little loud.

"Hey, don't yell at me. It's not my fault you're an idiot."

"You said she'd only be a little mad," Mark said. "Mac, Hannah's pissed!"

"All right. You can't do anything about it now though. Just call her and apologize again tomorrow."

"She told me not to ever call her again."

"Girls never mean that though. And you said she was mad. People say things they don't mean all the time when they're mad."

"It sounded like she meant it."

"Look, Mark. You were bound to have your first fight eventually. And I promise that in a couple days, you'll both laugh at this whole thing," Mac told him. "And look on the bright side. A fight means you get to have make-up sex."

"Whatever," Mark said, not completely believing him. Especially not the part about the make-up sex. "You better be right, but I still think our first fight might be our one and only chance to have a fight."

--

The next day, Hannah went out with her friends to explain everything that had happened once again. Both girls not only could not get over the shock that Lexi was Mark's daughter, but shared in Hannah's anger that he lied repeatedly for so long.

"Did you ever tell him about Scott?" asked Kristine.

"No," Hannah said. "We never really talked much about past relationships." The truth was, Hannah really didn't like thinking about her relationship with Scott. She usually tried to forget anything ever happened with him.

Hannah met Scott in one of her classes a few years before. Hannah never really understood why he liked her, but he did, and asked her out. Maggie insisted that Hannah just didn't have enough self-confidence, and that there was no reason for Scott not to like her. Although Hannah wasn't completely convinced, she nonetheless, began dating Scott. Five months into their relationship, things were getting pretty serious, and Hannah decided to let their relationship go to the next level.

Over the course of their entire relationship, they had always spent quite a bit of time doing things apart, with their own friends, so Hannah didn't really think too much of not seeing Scott a lot over the next few days after she gave him her virginity. He was an editor on the school newspaper, and he played club hockey so he was always really busy.

However, a week later, after Hannah hadn't seen Scott at all for a few days, she decided to surprise him at the editing office for the school paper. She knew he was busy and probably could use a stress reliever after being so busy finishing stories late at night for the next edition of the paper.

When she got to the office to surprise Scott, she was surprised to find him and another girl who worked on the paper having sex in the office. Not only was she hurt and completely crushed, she realized that their affair was going on the entire time she and Scott were dating. Every time he had to work late or went out with the guys on his hockey team, he had been lying to her. He really had been with not only Jess from the paper, but two other girls as well.

For months following her discovery, Hannah couldn't trust guys at all. Mark was the first guy she let her guard down with since, only to get hurt once again. It took Hannah a year and a half to get back to the point where she felt comfortable dating and able to trust guys again. She did promise herself she would never put up with a guy's lies again though, and she wasn't making an exception for Mark. If he really cared about her, he wouldn't have lied for as long as he did. It was obvious that he was just like the rest of them.

"Hannah, please don't let this put you back at the point you were at last year," Kristine said. "Not all guys are like Scott and Mark. Believe it or not, there are decent guys in the world."

"Well, apparently I have really bad datable guy radar," Hannah said, sounding sort of sad.

Just as Kristine was about to open her mouth to say something, Hannah stopped her.

"And no Kristine, I'm not forgiving and forgetting, so don't ask. I promised myself that if a guy ever lied to me again, I would dump his ass before he knew what hit him."

"I know, but you really liked Mark."

"I really liked Scott too, and I don't ever go there," Hannah told her.

"Well, Mark didn't cheat on you," Maggie reminded her.

"If either one of you take his side, I'll-"

"Don't worry, we're not taking his side," Maggie said, looking over at Kristine who shook her head in agreement. "I think what he did was really jerky. What did he think lying would accomplish anyway?"

"I don't know. But if I can't trust him to tell the truth about something as big as having a kid, how can I believe anything he says?"

"I completely agree," said Maggie.

"What's even worse is that he somehow managed to get Lexi to lie too. He made a three-year-old lie. What the hell kind of parenting is that? Teaching a little kid to lie."

Maggie exchanged a glance with Kristine. They both knew Hannah was really angry with Mark. Between the previous night on the phone and that afternoon, Maggie had never heard Hannah swear that much in total before, let alone in twelve hours.

Kristine decided to try to lighten things up, and made a comment about Maggie's statement before. "I bet Mark lies about lots of little things too." Then she joked, "Like he might really hate your cooking."

"Kristine, shut up," Hannah said, with a smile though, knowing her friend was only kidding.

--

The same day at practice, Mark wanted to avoid all conversation on the topic of Hannah, but it didn't go to well. OC brought Hannah up almost immediately, knowing that Mark had been planning on telling her the night before.

"How everything go last night?" OC asked Mark.

"Eh," Mark said, shrugging, not wanting to go into further detail.

"She made him walk home," Mac said, offering more information than Mark had hoped to tell anyone.

"That sucks. But you were a complete idiot for lying like that."

"Yeah I guess," Mark said, not in the mood for a lecture.

"I mean, even I know better than to lie to a girlfriend. And I'm not exactly an expert on girls or anything," OC said, making Mark feel even worse.

"Yeah," was his short reply.

"What were you thinking anyway, Magic? You downright lied to Hannah about Lexi for a few weeks now."

"I don't think he was thinking," Silky piped up.

"Okay, I get it!" Mark yelled. "I'm in no mood for the two biggest operators here to tell me about the mistakes I made with Hannah. I'd rather not get any relationship advice from either of you." Then Mark looked around. "Or anyone else for that matter," he added, knowing if he didn't say that, someone else was bound to jump in.

Having said that, Mark quickly finished getting ready and headed out to the ice. He was done thinking about anything that had to do with Hannah.


	12. Owner of a Lonely Heart

Meadow567: Thanks for the review. You'll see how everything plays out soon. (It could have been sooner but due to the many issues I've been having… see author's note… you'll have to wait a little longer.)

NellieBly413672: lol, my friends all do the same sort of thing too! It must be a girl thing. Anyway, thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it. I hope you like this one too.

A/N: I'm so incredibly sorry I haven't updated in so long. I was really busy with finals. Then I was going to post last weekend, but my hard drive crashed and I lost everything, including the chapter. I finally got it rewritten, although it's not as long as it was originally. I hope everyone enjoys it though. Unfortunately, my MCATs are a week from today, so I definitely will not be updating again until they're over. I have a LOT of studying to do (given that the practice test I took this morning was awful!) Anyway, once those are done though, I'll have more time to write because I'll really be on summer vacation! Anyway, thanks again for the reviews and enjoy the chapter!

--

"Daddy, how come Hannah doesn't come over to play with me anymore?" Lexi asked, almost as if Hannah was her friend instead of Mark's girlfriend. It had been four days since Mark told Hannah about Lexi, and he hadn't heard from her. It wasn't that Mark didn't try to talk to her, but she wasn't kidding when she said she wouldn't answer her phone. He even tried going to her apartment, but either she wasn't home, or she was ignoring the knock at the door.

"Well, Daddy made a stupid mistake and made Hannah sort of angry," Mark explained. Now that everyone knew Lexi was his daughter, Lexi called Mark "Daddy" all the time. At first, Lexi wanted to keep calling him 'Uncle Mark' so she could get money, but Mark talked her out of it.

"Is she mad at me too?" Lexi wondered.

"No, sweetie. She's just mad at Daddy and she has every right to be."

"What did you do?"

"I told a lie."

Lexi gasped. "That's bad."

"I know. Lying is really bad," Mark said with a sigh. Even his three-year-old knew Mark was wrong in lying.

"Say you're sorry," Lexi told him easily.

"It's not that easy, Lexi," Mark told her. The conversation was dropped as Mac walked into the room.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mac asked. Then, "Are you coming out with us tonight?"

"I don't think so," Mark replied.

"I wanna go," Lexi said.

Mac didn't reply, because he knew Lexi wouldn't be accompanying them, but he knew better than to tell her no. The last thing he wanted was to start another argument with Lexi, because he never won.

"You have to come, Mark. You never get out. And you need to go on the rebound. I mean, Hannah won't even talk to you at all. You should just go out and find another girl to teach her a lesson. Then she'll see what's she's missing and come crawling back to you."

"Mac, it hasn't even been a week."

"Exactly. You need to make her jealous."

"Mac, that sort of thing only works when she's actually there to see it," Mark told him. "And besides, I don't want to go on the rebound. I'm fine with being single for a while."

"Oh really?" Mac challenged. "Because it sure doesn't seem like it. You've called her at least twenty times the last four days, and you've gone to her apartment at least once. And everyday I hear you talking to someone about her. Just because you've stopped complaining to me doesn't mean I don't know about it."

"Fine, maybe I don't really want to be single, but I like Hannah. She was so good with Lexi and if I could just go back and change how I handled everything, I would."

After another ten minutes of Mac trying to talk Mark into going out, he eventually gave up and headed to the bar by himself after eating some dinner.

The bar wasn't too crowded that night, and only a small handful of the guys on the team were there. Mac, OC, Silky, Rizzo, Bah, Verchota, and Pav were the only guys that came out. A few of the other guys stopped by for a while, but they were all doing other things later and didn't stay long.

At around ten, the guys noticed Maggie and Kristine walk into the bar. At first, the two girls did their best to avoid them. The guys however, walked over to them to say hi.

"How are you girls doing tonight?" Bah asked, knowing very well that the girls didn't really want to see them.

"Fine," Maggie answered.

"Is Hannah at home moping around like Mark?" OC asked.

"No," Kristine answered flatly. "She's out somewhere."

"Oh," OC replied. "Well, Mark's been down all week."

"Good," both girls replied.

"Hey, don't take everything out on Mark," Mac said in Mark's defense. "He told one, little, stupid lie, and Hannah won't even answer his calls or anything. Mark's tried to apologize and explain many times."

"He should have never lied to her like that. She's really big on being in relationships based on trust. Obviously she can't trust Mark," Maggie said.

"Come on. Put yourself in his shoes. If you had a kid, would you want everyone knowing and judging you for it? All Mark wanted was for people to base their opinions about him on him, and not that he has a kid," Mac said.

"I know. I understand why he did it. But I'm not Hannah. And Hannah has a reason to be the way she is. I shouldn't be the one to explain why and go into details though," Maggie replied, thinking about the Scott story.

"Fine. But can't one of you talk her into giving Mark another chance? Or maybe at least letting him explain?"

"I don't know. But can't you all just leave?" Maggie asked, as all the guys were now congregated around their table. "We're waiting for people."

"Not until you promise that you'll talk to Hannah," Bah jumped in.

"We'll see."

"We'll try," Kristine now chimed in. "But I can't promise it'll do any good."

"Thanks," Mac told the girls.

OC now sat down at the girls table.

"Uh, I thought you were going to leave," Kristine said.

"I never said anything about leaving," OC said with a smile. "Bah was only speaking for himself." Kristine just rolled her eyes. Like usual, OC was being smart.

"Fine, whatever. But you'll need to leave when our friends come."

"You have friends?" said Silky. Maggie and Kristine laughed. Of course they had other friends. Silky then made himself clearer. "I meant, I didn't know you had friends I haven't met."

"Yeah, and for their sake, we're trying to keep it that way," said Maggie with a laugh.

--

Over a week later, Hannah still hadn't spoken to Mark. Mark was giving up hope of ever talking to her again, but he wasn't over her by any means. Although he had little time to mope around and be upset, due to hockey and taking care of Lexi, he was noticeably not as happy as he was when Hannah was around. At least, Mac didn't think so. Mac was actually the only one to really notice Mark's mood, and it was probably because they spent the most time together, being roommates and all.

Whenever Mac brought Hannah up though, Mark insisted he was completely over her. He pretended not to care at all about her, but Mac just knew he was fooling himself.

One afternoon, Mac was at the store and ran into Maggie. He hadn't seen either of Hannah's friends since that night at the bar, and he wondered what ever happened to them asking Hannah to give Mac a second chance.

"Hey Maggie, what's going on?" Mac said, being friendly.

"Hey. I'm just doing some shopping. How have you been?"

"It's funny you should ask..." Mac started. "I'm pretty good, but I'd be even better with a happy roommate."

"Who's your - oh, yeah. Mark's your roommate," Maggie said, now turning to walk in the opposite direction. Mac followed her. "I'm sorry Mac. I really tried. But Hannah just won't give him another chance."

"Why?"

"She's stubborn. Plus, she cannot stand lying. I can't begin to explain, because you wouldn't understand. I don't even understand her sometimes."

"But Hannah seems like such an understanding person."

"Normally she is. She would have been understanding if Mark came out right away and told the truth. Even a little lie or omission of the facts would have been okay, but when Lexi showed up, he should have told her right away." Maggie paused for a minute before continuing. "Look, I wish Hannah would give him a second chance too. They seemed pretty good for each other. And along with falling for him, I know she adored Lexi too."

"Then it's even better Lexi's his daughter, isn't it?" Mac asked rhetorically. "If only there was another way to make them go on a blind date all over again," Mac muttered. All of a sudden, Maggie's eyes lit up.

"Mac, you're a genius!"

"I am?" he asked, sounding very confused.

"Mark and Hannah have to go on a blind date with each other again!" Maggie said, excited.

"That will never work. Do you think either of them will be willing to be set up again?"

"No, but that's where we come in."

"Under no circumstances am I going on a blind date with you," Mac said. "Besides, it's not really a blind date if we know each other anyway."

"Not for us, you idiot. It's not going to be a blind date at all, per say." Now Mac had no idea where Maggie was going with her idea. "We'll all go out and the four of us will happen to run into each other."

"Think that'll work?" Mac asked.

"Of course. As long as Mark and Hannah both agree to going out with us for dinner tomorrow. I know Hannah won't be a problem."

"I could get Mark to go. But what about Lexi?"

"Can someone watch her?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, but Mark won't want to leave her when we're just going for dinner."

"Then let's go to a bar for drinks after dinner."

"Okay. I can try to get Mark to go. But he'll probably think it's random and will say no."

"Well, genius, you can figure something out," Maggie said. "Here's my number. Call me tomorrow so we can set the plans." Maggie scribbled her number on a piece of scrap paper and left Mac standing there. _Why am I such a genius again? _Mac wondered to himself. Mac then looked at the scrap paper and shoved it in his pocket. _I sure hope this works,_ he then began thinking.

A/N: I hope everyone liked it! Again, I'm sorry it took so long. I originally had their sort of blind date in this chapter, but due to my stupid computer, you'll have to wait for another week to see what happens with that.


	13. According to Plan

NellieBly413672: I promise that OC will get some action soon, lol. But not this chapter – this one's all about the "blind date". Thanks for the review!

Meadow567: Thanks – I think I did okay. They were hard, but that was to be expected. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

A/N: Here's another chapter. Enjoy and please review! I'll try to update again really soon. Now that I'm finally done with the MCATs, I should be able to write a little more often. Now I'm just hoping I won't have to take them again in August, but I won't know for another month. Oh well, enjoy the chapter!

The day after Mac and Maggie ran into each other in the store, they made plans to have Hannah and Mark meet that night after dinner. Mac just hoped he could talk Mark into going.

All afternoon, Mark thought Mac was acting a little weird, but just ignored him. In the past few months, he learned that Mac often did do and say things that were a little strange. Today was clearly no exception.

"What are you doing tonight?" Mac asked him casually.

"The same thing I do every night," was Mark's reply. Then he expanded upon this. "Make dinner, eat dinner, watch Lexi move food around her plate and eventually eat enough, play with Lexi, read her a story, read her another story, put her to bed, watch TV, and go to bed."

"Gee, Mark, you don't seem bitter about that at all," Mac said sarcastically.

"It's just gets boring doing the same old thing every night."

"Then I have the perfect solution. Tonight, we're going out."

"Okay, and I'll leave Lexi here by herself," Mark commented.

"I'm serious, Mark. We're going out," Mac said, knowing Mark didn't think he was serious. "One of the guys will watch Lexi."

"Even better idea," Mark said, still not taking Mac's idea seriously. "I'll leave her with Verchota, OC, or Silky. That way she can really get corrupted."

"I already talked to Jimmy and he's going to baby-sit. And I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Fine," Mark said, giving in.

"What?" Mac asked, not thinking he could have heard Mark right. That was way too easy.

"You heard me. I'll go out. But only because if I go, you'll stop bugging me about it."

"Great!"

After dinner that night, Mark walked Lexi down to Jimmy's room. Mark told him how much he appreciated him watching her. Unbeknownst to Mark, Jimmy knew all about Mac's plan to get him and Hannah back together, so he was glad to be of help in the process.

"Be good, Lexi," Mark said.

"I will Daddy," Lexi said, reaching up to give him a hug.

"See you both later," Mark said, and then left to find Mac.

A little while later, Mac and Mark sat at a table in the bar near campus. Mark was venting about the stresses of balancing being a dad and hockey. Mark was telling Mac how he hated that Lexi was just sitting in the stands all day long by herself. Part of the reason that Mark hated leaving her at night was that he felt like he wasn't with her all day long. She was only a little girl and needed attention. Mark really wanted Lexi to be able to play with other kids too, but didn't want to spend a ton of money on day care.

After not getting many responses from Mac, Mark realized that Mac kept looking at the door, and wasn't really even listening.

"Who's meeting us here?" Mark asked, assuming that was the reason Mac kept looking at the door. Mark also realized that that was the most likely reason that Mac picked that table in the first place. And the reason why Mac had insisted on getting a pitcher of beer as opposed to glasses.

"No one," Mac said way too quickly.

"I know you're lying, Mac."

"I'm not waiting for anyone," Mac insisted, half smiling. Now Mark knew he was lying. Mac was the worst liar. He always put a stupid grin on his face when he was lying about something.

Mac kept insisting no one was meeting them, so Mark dropped it. He went on talking, but a few minutes later, Mac waved to someone. Mark turned around.

"Well, look who it is," Mac said smiling as the two girls began walked towards their table.

"Fancy seeing you two here," Maggie said, winking at Mac. "Hi Mark," she said. Then Maggie turned to Hannah, who wasn't quite to the table yet. "Hannah, look who it is." Mark and Mac both noticed Hannah give Maggie an evil glare. She reached the table, but didn't say much. After a short awkward silence, Mac spoke up.

"How have you been, Hannah?" he asked.

"Fine," she answered. "And you?"

"Oh, you know. Same old same."

"I bet," Hannah said, looking at Mark for the first time since their fight. Mark just looked back, unsure where to begin. He didn't want to say something corny and sound really stupid.

"Why don't you two sit down and have a beer?" Mac asked. Maggie quickly sat next to Mac, so Hannah would have to sit next to Mark. Hannah reluctantly sat down. She looked at Mark and they shared a look that said they thought this whole meeting was a set up. Mark though of a way to catch Mac and Maggie.

"Mac, I think it's pretty weird that you asked Hannah how she was but didn't ask Maggie how she had been," Mark said. Hannah smiled, knowing exactly where Mark was going with that. Maggie realized it too, but a little too late.

"Well, when I saw her yesterday-" Mac stopped short, having been kicked by Maggie. "I didn't see her yesterday," Mac said quickly. "I don't know what I was thinking.

"You weren't," Maggie mumbled. Then she spoke up, knowing they were caught. "Okay, fine. We planned this. But we did it for you two. You need to talk." Mark looked over at Hannah, who wasn't looking back. She was avoiding making eye contact.

"Maggie, what are you talking about? I had no part in setting this up," Mac said. "Don't say things just because you think that's what they want to hear."

"Mac, you can cut the act. They know. Neither of them are stupid," Maggie told him. She then asked, "Wanna go pick a few songs so we can dance later?" Maggie was referring to the jukebox on the other side of the bar.

"What makes you think we're dancing together? I'm not here as your date after all. If I want to dance later, I'll find some hot single girls and ask them," Mac replied seriously. Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Just come with me," she said. "You can't dance later of there aren't any good songs on."

"Look Maggie, I really don't care what songs are played. I'm sure whatever you pick will be just fine."

Obviously Mac didn't get it. Maggie wanted Mac to go with her so Hannah and Mark would be left alone. Even Hannah and Mark knew what Maggie was trying to do.

"Mac, get your ass up and come with me. You don't have to pick any songs, but I need your help."

"Fine," Mac said. "I could always get another drink while I'm up."

"Are you sure you need anything else to drink," Maggie commented, based on how clueless Mac was already.

"Trust me, he's not drunk," Mark spoke up. "He's always that clueless."

"I'm not clueless," Mac said.

Mark, Hannah, and Maggie all rolled their eyes. "Let's go," Maggie then said, pulling Mac by the arm, away from the table. When they were out of ear shot from the table, Maggie told Mac why she wanted him to join her.

"Oh, I get it," Mac said. "This is another part of the master plan."

"Yeah, and you say you're not clueless." Maggie said with a sigh.

After picking a few songs, they decided to sit at the bar and have a drink. Both wanted Mark and Hannah to have a chance to have a long talk, and since they couldn't see the table from where they were sitting at the bar, they knew their friends couldn't see them avoiding the table either.

Meanwhile at the table, Mark and Hannah shared an awkward silence for the first couple of minutes after Mac and Maggie left. Hannah sipped the beer she had poured a minute earlier, trying to avoid the inevitable. Mark was trying to think of something to say. After a couple minutes of this, Hannah wondered whether Mark was going to say anything. She wasn't going to be the one to talk first, so as if giving him a signal, she cleared her throat. Finally, Mark spoke up.

"Well, our friends must think they're really clever."

"Yeah," Hannah replied. That wasn't exactly how she envisioned Mark beginning their conversation, but at least I was something.

"I'm beginning to think they're not coming back," Mark said.

"That's probably part of their plan," Hannah replied.

After collecting his thoughts, Mark began talking. "Look, Hannah. I know you don't really want to be here. And least you don't want to be here with me. Especially after you said that you never wanted to see me again…"

"I didn't want to see you again. And I had no intention of seeing you again," Hannah said seriously.

"I know. And I know that I was a jerk for lying to you. I should have never lied and pretended Lexi was my niece." Mark remembered back to their conversation that night, and what else Hannah had said to Mark. "And I know it wasn't right to bribe Lexi into lying either."

"No it wasn't, you're right." Hannah said, her voice still stern.

"I'm sorry. I really am. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have told you the truth right away."

"Why did you lie in the first place?" Hannah wondered, letting down her really serious and angry act. The truth was, seeing Mark was actually a little exciting. Since her initial rage wore off from when he told her, she was becoming closer and closer to forgiving him, and easily forgiving him at that. Still, Hannah didn't want Mark, or anyone else, to know that. She kept reminding herself that what Mark did was wrong. Lying, and making his daughter lie, was terrible. The more Hannah reminded herself of that night, the easier it was to stay mad.

"You have no idea what's it's like to be a single parent, and a single father at that. When she was a baby, I used to get disapproving looks if I took her anywhere. People were constantly judging me. I didn't want you or the guys on my team, or the coaches, or anyone else to hold Lexi against me. I like to think I'm a pretty good guy, but as soon as I mention that I have a daughter, people's opinions seem to change."

"I wouldn't have held it against you," Hannah told him softly. From the look on Mark's face while he was explaining himself, Hannah knew that the whole situation wasn't easy for him. Now it was even harder to pretend she was still really mad, especially because Hannah understood the reason why he lied. Now Hannah was only a little mad, and basically just mad because he lied and now she knew better than to trust him. She wanted to trust him so badly, but knew better based on past experiences. Guys that lied once, always lied again.

"Well, it's really easy to say that now, but I'm sure you would have had a hard time accepting it," Mark said.

"But I would have eventually accepted it. And we'd probably still be dating if that was the case. I really liked you Mark."

"I like you too," Mark said, emphasizing 'like' in the present tense, which Hannah didn't take notice to. And from the way Hannah said 'liked' Mark was under the assumption that he wasn't getting a second chance. "You have no idea how sorry I am," Mark tried again.

"I know you're sorry. But it won't change anything. You still lied to me, and repeatedly at that," Hannah reminded him.

"Hannah, is there anything I can do to get you to forgive me?" Mark asked, beginning to think it was hopeless.

"Mark, I do forgive you. I understand why you lied, and I forgive you. But that doesn't mean I trust you."

Now Mark was slightly confused. It sounded like Hannah was seriously forgiving him, but apparently she didn't trust him. So what exactly did that mean? Finally Mark asked just that.

Hannah's answer wasn't exactly what Mark had been hoping for though. "It means we can't pick things up where we left off. I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust you enough for that kind of relationship again. I'm forgiving you as a friend, not as your girlfriend."

"Oh," was Mark's dull reply.

"I'm sorry Mark, but you'll just have to understand," Hannah added. "I have some trust issues. I've been lied to too many times to believe that you'll never lie to me again, and the rest of the bull shit that guys say."

"But I really won't," Mark said. "I'm different from other guys."

"Look, Mark," Hannah said, her voice getting a little louder. It was clear that she was on the verge of becoming really annoyed. "If you really were 'different' from other guys, you wouldn't have lied in the first place. And if you really felt the need to lie, it wouldn't have gone on for as long as it did."

Mark sighed, defeated. There was nothing he could say to change her mind.

"I'm not saying I'll definitely never be able to trust you again, but you'll have to earn it. I just don't want to jump back into things and get hurt. And I don't want to get your hopes up either."

"But there's a possibility?" Mark asked, sounding hopeful.

"Anything's possible," Hannah replied.

"Good," Mark said. He knew he would find a way to win her trust.

"So how's Lexi doing?" Hannah asked a minute later, ready to change the subject to a little more casual topic.

Mark answered, and they talked for a while. Mark thought it almost seemed like their first date all over again. Mark made sure to be more open this time, and he offered more information than previously. He really wanted Hannah to know the real him, which included being a father.

Mark and Hannah completely lost track of time, and Maggie and Mac finally came back to the table.

"Where have you guys been?" Hannah asked.

"We, ummm…" Maggie looked over at Mac.

"We went to pick some songs, then we had a few drinks, and then we…" Mac finished, but trailed off.

"We went for a walk," Maggie said.

"Tell me you did not walk back tone of your rooms," Hannah said, groaning.

Maggie and Mac looked at each other. "We will if you want us to," Maggie said.

"Oh my God! You guys did not!" Hannah said.

"Nah, they didn't. I know Mac better than that," Mark said, not believing their story.

"Yeah, and I know Maggie too," Hannah said. Then she quietly added, "That is something she would totally do."

"There's no way you two had sex," Mark said. "Mac is being way too quiet. Too quiet to be drunk, and too quiet to have just had sex."

"Well, we're sobering up now," Maggie said.

"Yeah," Mac said. "I was so drunk before. Do you really think I would have slept with her if I wasn't drunk?" he asked Mark.

After that comment, Maggie hit him in the arm. "Excuse me?" she said with her eyebrows raised.

"Well, sorry, but I wouldn't have. I told you I didn't find you attractive."

Hannah's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe Mac just said that. Especially not to Maggie. Maggie didn't stand for comments like that, and especially not right after she had sex with that person.

Instead of punching him, or even worse, Maggie put her arm around him and looked up at him.

"Baby, I know you're only kidding." As Maggie reached up to kiss him, Mac quickly pulled away.

"All right – enough of that!" Mac moved away from Maggie. "We didn't sleep together, we weren't drunk, and we didn't even leave the bar. All we wanted to do was come up with a good enough excuse so you wouldn't be mad at us for leaving you." Maggie began laughing. Mac turned to face her. "And what the hell was that about?" Mac asked referring to Maggie's attempt to kiss him. "I made it clear that we weren't going any farther than just talk.

"That was to teach you a lesson for calling me completely repulsive!"

"I never called you repulsive," Mac said.

Maggie repeated one of Mac's previous statements, imitating him using a deep voice. "Would I have slept with her if I wasn't drunk? I don't find her attractive." She then looked at Mac and raised her eyebrows.

"That was part of the act!" Mac said.

"Well, part of the act was that we were supposed to like each other!"

"Okay, enough!" Mark shouted over their increasingly loud voices. "We don't care," he said, speaking for himself and Hannah. "We're not mad that you left us."

"Okay good," Maggie said. "Are you two okay now?" she wondered about Mark and Hannah.

"We're better than we were when we got here," Mark said, unsure of how else to put it.

"That's a start then," Maggie said. "But it's late and I'm going home. Ready, Hannah?"

"Yeah," she answered. The friends all said their goodbyes and went separate ways. Before leaving though, Maggie and Mac made sure that Mark and Hannah made plans to see each other again soon. They ended up agreeing on doing something that weekend, and Mark promised to call Hannah to make more definite plans later.


	14. It's My Party

NellieBly413672: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it! Mac was clueless, and there's going to be more moments. I love writing his character in this story, because of how clueless he is, lol. It makes for a lot of funny moments. Enjoy the chapter!

Meadow567: Thanks, glad you liked it and enjoy this chapter too!

A/N: Sorry this took a while to get up. It seems like I'm busier now without school! Anyway enjoy and please review!!

Two days after Mark and Hannah talked things over at the bar, they decided to go out for a bite to eat. Hannah insisted that Lexi should come along too. As Mark was getting ready, in a hurry because Herb let them out of practice late, the phone was ringing.

"Mac, could you get that?" Mark asked. "I'm supposed to pick up Hannah in ten minutes."

"I get it, Daddy," Lexi told him.

"Lexi, let Mac answer the phone," he told his daughter. "Mac, get the phone!" he yelled to his roommate.

"Why? No one ever calls for me anyway," Mac said, slowly walking to the phone. Lexi beat Mac to it.

"Hi," she said once she picked up the phone. Neither Mark nor Mac knew who Lexi was talking to, but she began carrying on a conversation with the person at the other end of the line. Mac grabbed the phone from the little girl.

"Hey!" Lexi said in protest.

"Hello?" Mac said.

"Hi Mac," a familiar voice said. "You know, it wasn't very nice to grab the phone away from Lexi like that."

"Hi Kelly," Mac said, greeting Mark's sister, the tone of his voice speaking his lack of enthusiasm.

"I was calling to talk to Mark," she said. "Or my niece of course, but you grabbed the phone from her."

"He's a little busy. Can he call you back?"

Kelly said no and explained the message she wanted relayed to Mark. After hanging up the phone, Mac gave Mark the message.

"Kelly told me to tell you that she's flying in this coming weekend. Your mom and dad are apparently stopping by too. They're going somewhere for something…" Mac rambled, not being able to remember the details, "…and well, anyway, they're stopping here on their way there. I think they're driving, but your sister is flying."

"Mac, get to the point. I'm late," Mark urged, looking at the clock.

"They want to see Lexi and give her her birthday presents."

"What's today?" Mark asked.

"Saturday," Mac answered.

"I mean the date."

"November eleventh. Remember, because it's Veteran's Day and we didn't even get off of practice."

"You think everyday is cause for a day off," Mark said. "And we would have had off, but we played like crap yesterday." Mark then quickly did the math in his head. "Lexi's birthday is Tuesday! I can't believe I forgot until now!"

"Really? She's gonna be four?"

"Yeah. And I didn't plan a party or get her presents or anything!"

"You're such a bad dad," Mac said joking.

"I know," Mark said seriously. "I almost forgot my daughter's birthday!"

"Mark, I was kidding. It's no big deal. She's little, she probably doesn't even realize it's almost her birthday."

Mark looked at Mac like he was crazy. "Of course it's a big deal. And of course she knows."

"It's not like she'll have friends to invite anyway," Mark reminded him.

"I can't believe I almost forgot," Mark said again, not really paying anymore attention to Mac.

"What happened to you being late?" Mac asked.

"This is more important!" Mark yelled, clearly frustrated and getting stressed.

After taking a minute to calm down, Mark and Lexi left to pick up Hannah. As Mac suggested, Mark knew he was right in that Hannah would have a great idea about what to do for Lexi's birthday.

--

"Hey Mark, hey Lexi," Hannah said as she got in the passenger seat.

"Sorry I'm late," Mark apologized. "I had a little problem on my way out the door."

"What's wrong?" Hannah asked, accurately sensing something was wrong. Instead of answering directly, Mark asked Lexi what was coming up.

"My birthday!" she said happily. "I'm turning four!" On the way to Hannah's, Mark found out the Lexi did in fact know it was almost her birthday. Of course, she needed a little reminder as to the exact date, but she knew her birthday was in November and that it was November already.

"That's great!" Hannah said, and stole a glance at Mark, who did not look nearly as happy.

"I haven't planned a party yet," he told Hannah, guilty sounding. Hannah then knew that he forgot but didn't want to say that in front of Lexi.

"I'll help," Hannah kindly offered.

"She can't even invite friends or anything though."

"What about your friends?" Hannah suggested. "I know they all love an excuse to party, even if it is for a child's birthday. Then again, the majority of them act like children themselves sometimes, so it wouldn't be too far off."

"I need to get presents too, and a cake…" Mark said, half to himself, listing the things having a birthday party entailed.

"I'll take care of the cake," Hannah offered.

"Are you sure?" Mark asked.

"Your friends love any excuse to party and you should know that I love any excuse to bake," Hannah said.

"As long as you don't mind," Mark said.

"Not at all," Hannah assured him.

After dinner, the three did a little shopping for Lexi's birthday. Mark and Hannah did a pretty good job of keeping everything they bought a secret from Lexi.

"Did you ever think about signing Lexi up for preschool?" Hannah asked. "I know you said you wished she could play with kids her age."

"Yeah, but the school year already started. And if it's as expensive as day care, I really can't afford it," Mark told her honestly.

"Well, the cost really depends on where you go. Some are partially funded by the government."

"But the year has already started," Mark said.

"So, it's only pre-school. It doesn't matter if she starts late. That way, Lexi can be doing something while you're at practice."

"I'll need to find someplace for her to go though," Mark said.

"The school I work at has a pre-school. It's a half-day program. Lexi could go in the morning while you're practicing. You guys usually finish around twelve thirty, so it would be perfect timing, Lexi would finish at one. And the teacher is excellent. Jenny's really good with kids."

"Okay," Mark said. He did want Lexi to go t pre-school. "Will she learn her numbers and ABC's and stuff like that?" Mark wondered, knowing Lexi liked learning but Mark was having trouble teaching her.

"Yeah. I think Lexi would really like it too. And it'll be especially good for her if she starts kindergarten next year. Since her birthday is early, she can start next fall."

"Can you talk to the teacher then and get information for me?"

"Sure. If you have time Monday afternoon, we can go there and meet with her. Lexi could probably start going sometime next week."

"Lexi," Mark called to his daughter who was looking at toys. She looked over, acknowledging him. "How would you like to go to school?"

"School, really?" Lexi asked, sounding excited. "Can I Daddy? Please?" Mark was really glad to see Lexi so excited. He was pretty excited himself as well, because now he wouldn't feel so bad dragging her along to practice and making her sit in the stands. She was really well behaved and kept herself occupied during that time, but Mark still felt bad about leaving her there.

--

The following week flew by, and before Mark knew it, it was the weekend. His week had been really busy with practice, games, planning Lexi's party, and meeting with her soon to be teacher. Deciding beginning school Monday was best, Lexi hadn't had her first day yet.

Although Lexi's real birthday had been Tuesday, the party was planned for Saturday. That was the day Mark's parents and sister were going to be there, so having the party then worked out for everyone. Mark invited the whole team too, knowing that not everyone would come. Mac, Rizzo, and Jimmy came for the party, and Silky and OC came because Kelly was coming in. Mark didn't know why, but they were still trying to make a pass at his sister. Mark realized that is wasn't so much that they liked her though, as it was that they just didn't like being rejected. Hannah was coming to the party as well, and Maggie and Kristine had said they might stop by to say hi.

Hannah was the first person there, aside from Mac, and she brought a few simple decorations and the cake. She conned Mac into helping decorate.

"This is for me?" Lexi asked about the streamers, balloons, and cake.

"Yeah," Hannah answered. "You're the birthday girl."

"Wow!" she replied. Then she said, "I can't wait to see Aunt Kelly and Gramma and Grampa. I miss them a lot. They be here soon?" she asked Mark.

"Yeah, in a little bit."

A little while later, Mark's family showed up along with the guys from the team that came.

"I'm impressed," Kelly began after walking into the room. "Decorations and everything."

"All thanks to my friend, Hannah," Mark motioned to Hannah as a way of introducing them. "You can thank her for the cake too. As a matter of fact, she took care of the whole party."

"You can't give me all the credit," Hannah said. "After all, thought of the party, and told me what to get. And Mac did the decorating," she added, as a way of thanking him again. The whole time he was putting the decorations up, he was complaining.

Kelly laughed a little. "That's so funny. I was just about to ask if Lexi did the decorating." Her comment was very obviously a hit at Mac, who picked up on it right away.

"Very funny," he said dryly. "But I think I did a decent job. It's not like I'm Michelangelo or anything."

"It could almost pass for Picasso though," Kelly said laughing. A few others who understood the joke laughed, which didn't include Mac of course.

"You're comparing me to Picasso?"

"Well… the abstractness of everything," Kelly said, laughing again. Mac then realized she was making fun of him again.

Everyone had a good time at the party, and Lexi loved her presents. She got a lot of toys, most of which were from his parents and sister, and none of which Mark had any idea where he was going to put in their small room. Lexi also got a few new outfits from his parents. Out of his friends that came, they all chipped in to get her an art set with paint, markers, and crayons, and Hannah got her two Barbie dolls.

"Can you say thank you to everyone?" Mark reminded Lexi before everyone left.

"Thank you to everyone!" she said happily, repeating Mark's words exactly.

As Mark's parents left, Hannah and Lexi went for a walk down the hall to thank some of the other guys for the art set that didn't come to the party, while Kelly stayed behind. Mark's parents were on their way to North Dakota to visit friends and were driving.

"Aren't you leaving with them?" Mac asked Kelly, referring to her leaving with Mark's parents.

"No, you're stuck with me for a couple days. I'm flying home tomorrow night."

Mac's eyes got wide. "You're not staying here in this room, are you?" he asked, sounding worried.

"No."

"Why didn't you fly home tonight?" Mac asked.

"Because it's silly to get here, stay for three hours, and fly home. Besides how can I give Lexi the rest of her presents if I go home now?"

"There's more?" Mark asked, not thinking Lexi needed anymore.

"I'm taking her shopping tomorrow. I heard someone's starting school and needs some new clothes. We can't have Lexi looking like a ragamuffin."

"Ha!" Mac said. "Finally I hear something out of your sister's mouth that isn't a nasty comment directed at me."

"Oh trust me, if you want, I can twist it to change that," Kelly said. Mac just gave her a dirty look.

Just then, Lexi and Hannah walked back inside. For the rest of the afternoon, Mark, Mac, Kelly, Hannah, and Lexi hung out in the guy's room and played with Lexi and her new toys. The guys actually did more reading directions and putting stuff together than playing though. Mark thought the day went pretty well so far, and Hannah and Kelly seemed to be getting along fine, which Mark was happy for. Of course, Kelly didn't know the Hannah story, and up until that day, Mark failed to mention anything about Hannah to his family. It wasn't that Mark didn't want them knowing about Hannah, he just didn't want them making a big deal out of everything, like they had numerous times before.

"Lexi, I'm getting you on Santa's naughty list for Christmas," Mac joked. "I don't want to put any more toys together. You would think they'd make these things easy enough for kids to put together."

"Maybe if you had a little more common sense it wouldn't be that difficult," Kelly commented, grabbing a piece from Mac's hand and turning it the other way so it would fit.

"I knew it went that way," Mac said. "I was just testing it."

"Sure," Kelly replied.

Later that night, Mac kindly offered to drive Kelly to the hotel she was staying at. He actually didn't want to drive her, but Mark didn't feel like driving her and was going to sleep on the floor and make her sleep in his bed. Mac offered to drive Kelly back so that he could get rid of her for a while. Lexi ended up going with Kelly so Mark could have a free night. He didn't want to go out, but at least Lexi got to spend extra time with Kelly and Mark got to relax a little.

Hannah left shortly after everyone else. Her and Mark decided to hang out the next day while Lexi was with Kelly. Neither wanted to sound overly excited, but inside they both could hardly wait. Hannah realized that Mark was a good guy and just wanted to do everything in his power to be a good parent. She really respected him for everything he did for Lexi. He might not see it, but Mark was a good father.


	15. It's Not My Time

Meadow567: Thanks for the review. I didn't realize I made Mac so depressed sounding. I reread my chapter though, and I realized that he did sound sort of depressed. I just meant to make him annoyed with Kelly and everything, because they don't get along.

NellieBly413672: Well, I think you just might get your wish! Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

A/N: Okay, here's another chapter. Please read and review! I won't be updating for at least two weeks or so, because I'm going to California on vacation. But I'll try to update as soon as I can when I get back. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

The day after the party, while Kelly and Lexi were shopping, Mark and Hannah went out as well. They decided to spend the day outside, seeing as it was beautiful for November. That day was unusually warm and sunny, almost like it was early fall instead of almost winter. Before the snow forecasted for the next week came, Mark and Hannah wanted to enjoy the warm weather.

They decided to go to the park and bring lunch and a few things to do. First, Mark and Hannah ended up rollerblading. Although Mark didn't have rollerblades, Hannah brought two pairs she found in her parent's basement. After twenty minutes, Mark noticed Hannah was slowing down.

"Are your legs tired?" he asked.

"A little. But I can keep going," she said.

"We can stop," Mark said.

"Whenever you're tired," Hannah replied.

"Hannah, you're talking to a hockey player. This is true relaxation compared to skating in games and even practices. I haven't skated at a leisurely pace like this since I don't know when. I could go all day."

"Okay then," Hannah said, getting the point. "Why don't we have lunch?"

While they were eating, Hannah brought up a topic of conversation that she had been wondering about since she found out about Lexi. She felt a little funny asking, because it was never brought up, and it was possible that Mark didn't think it was anyone's business.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Mark said.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I'll understand," Hannah said, hesitating before continuing. "What happened to Lexi's mother?"

Mark sighed. He knew this would come up eventually. He didn't really mind talking about it, but at the same time, he hated explaining the story, because afterward, everyone always felt sorry they asked in the first place. They all thought he and Lexi both, needed sympathy.

"Her name's Rebecca. We were high school sweethearts." Mark paused for a second, gauging how comfortable Hannah was so far. Although Hannah technically wasn't his girlfriend, he still felt funny talking about his ex in detail. Hannah just nodded, signaling for Mark to continue. "We met as freshmen, and started dating by the end of that year. By senior year, everyone thought we would get married someday. We were voted cutest couple in our yearbook. On Valentine's Day, our school had its annual Sweetheart Dance. It was similar to a prom, but earlier in the year, and anyone in the school could go."

Mark stopped talking again, unsure of where to go from there. He decided to just continue. "Me and Becky were pretty good kids. We usually followed the rules, didn't miss our curfews, didn't party too much, didn't skip school… but that night, we booked a hotel room and decided to stay there for the night. I actually think I booked it, but it was a mutual decision. Well, anyway, as you can probably guess, we slept together and nine months to the day later, Lexi was born."

"Wow," Hannah said. "It seems like everything was going great though. Did Lexi really change everything?"

"Not at first. Things were really good for a while. And I'll never forget the day Becky told me she was pregnant." Mark went on to tell the story.

* * *

_May, 1975_

_Mark was having a wonderful day, and really didn't think things could get any better. Nothing would bring him down on that beautiful day. The weather was gorgeous, high was quickly coming to an end, he got a scholarship to play hockey in college, and he aced his first exam. Before walking out to his car, he stopped at his girlfriend's locker to see if she was ready to go and wanted a ride._

_"Mark, I have to talk to you," she said seriously, her dark blue eyes staring deeply into his bright blue ones._

_"What's going on, baby?" he asked._

_"Not here," she said. "Can we go somewhere quiet to talk?"_

_Mark looked both ways down the empty hallway. He shrugged. "Sure. Although, I don't know if we can go somewhere much quieter." Becky didn't smile at his attempt at lightening the situation._

_A few minutes later, as they sat on a bench outside, quite a ways away from the parking lot, Becky sighed._

_"Mark, I think I'm pregnant."_

_Mark initial reaction was total shock. He didn't see that coming. After a few silent seconds though, he started thinking that she must have been mistaken._

_"Becky, come on… there no way you're pregnant. You probably are just imagining-"_

_Beck cut him off. "No, Mark. I really think I'm pregnant."_

_"But we haven't had sex since February. And we only did it once."_

_"Yeah, and I think I got pregnant."_

_Mark tried reasoning with her. "You would have known already though, right? I mean, that was three months ago." Mark just wanted to come up with any reason he could that she wasn't pregnant._

_"I haven't gotten my period since the end of January. At first, I didn't think anything of it either. I just thought it was some weird abnormality. But I've thought about it, and I've been exhausted, I've had headaches, I've gained a little weight, and the past week, I've been hungry constantly. Mark, I really think I might be pregnant."_

_Mark sighed. He tried explaining her aliments again, but Becky wasn't buying it. Finally, he conceded. "Let's go get a pregnancy test," he said._

_After buying three tests at the drugstore, they went back to his house. Mark knew no one was home. Becky went in the bathroom with the three boxes, and Mark waited outside the door. A minute later, Becky came out, holding the stick._

_"How long do we have to wait?"_

_"Five minutes," Becky responded. "What if it's positive?" she asked, sounding a little scared. Mark didn't want to admit it, but he was scared too._

_"Then I guess we're gonna be parents." Mark noticed that Becky still looked really scared. "We'll figure everything out," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's gonna be okay." Mark kissed her forehead._

_After five minutes of standing and waiting, they looked at the test. Two pink lines were on the stick. Becky was pregnant._

_"I'll take another one. Maybe it was wrong," Becky said. Two tests later, the results hadn't changed. Becky started crying. "Maybe we should get some more. They could have been wrong."_

_"Becky," Mark began, trying to comfort her. He wrapped her into a hug. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay." Mark wished he believed his own words. In fact, Mark was freaking out inside. He was having too many thoughts to process. He used a condom. They were careful. They only did it once. How could he be a father? He was starting college. And he had a hockey scholarship. He was afraid to see his parent's reactions. They loved Becky, and Mark didn't think they would be angry, but he knew they'd be disappointed. He could almost see the looks on their faces now. Mark hated the thought of letting them down. And Becky's parents… they liked Mark, but he knew they would be upset. Becky had plans to go to college too. She was going to Wisconsin with Mark, and she also got a scholarship. Now that was probably out the window._

_"I'm so sorry," Becky said, looking at Mark, with tears still in her eyes._

_"Becky, it's not your fault. We'll get through this, okay."_

_"Are you mad at me?"_

_"No. I'm a little surprised and I'm in shock right now, but how could I be mad at you? I love you," he reasoned._

* * *

"So you played the good guy role and promised to stick by her no matter what?" Hannah asked, interrupting his story.

"I guess, yeah," he said. "I was so in love though, I didn't see it like that. At that point I really thought we would get married. I'm just glad my mom talked me out of it."

"I thought your parents liked Becky?"

"They did. But my mom didn't want me to get married for the wrong reasons."

"How did everyone take the news?" Hannah asked.

"Her parents were shocked. Her dad yelled when the shock wore off. So did her mom, actually. They came around quickly though, but they still wanted to keep it on the down low from friends. They were afraid Becky would be looked at as an outcast. My parents were really shocked too, but they took it pretty well. They were really calm and very supportive. They too, like Becky's parents though, didn't want to spread the news either. And my dad thought I could get my scholarship taken away if anyone found out." Mark then laughed a little. "Kelly got a little talking to though. My dad told her that if she ever got pregnant, he would rip off the guy's balls, no matter how much he used to like him. It was funny, but Kelly hated what I put her through."

"But your mom still didn't want you getting married?" Hannah wondered.

Mark then started on that part of the story.

* * *

_August, 1975_

_Mark was starting college in a week and Becky was six months pregnant. Even though she could still hide it well, she wasn't starting school. Since the baby was due in November, it would have been pointless, because she wouldn't have been able to finish the semester. The plan was for her to start in January._

_That day, Mark bought an engagement ring for Becky. He was planning on asking her to marry him that weekend. He was so excited to have finally found the perfect ring; he rushed home right away to show it to his family._

_"You're planning on proposing then?" his mom asked, looking at Mark's father with raised eyebrows._

_"Yeah. This weekend."_

_"Mark, you don't need to rush into things. Marriage isn't meant to be rushed into."_

_"Mom, we've been dating for over three years. I love Becky and want to spend the rest of my life with her. We're having a baby," he added, like she needed a reminder._

_"Mark, things change. College changes people. Marriage is a big commitment."_

_"I know Mom," Mark said, and looked at his dad for help. He didn't offer assistance though._

_"What if you realize that she's not the one for you?"_

_"We're having a baby together," Mark said once again._

_"I don't care. If that's the only reason you're proposing, it's not good enough."_

_"It's not the only reason!" Mark said, raising his voice._

_After twenty minutes of arguing, Mark finally gave up. He promised his mom that he would wait to pop the question._

_"Promise me that you'll wait, at least until your first year of college is almost over. Please promise me that Mark."_

_"I promise," Mark said, not wanting to disappoint his mom. Besides, he knew that another year wouldn't change much, other than possibly making their relationship even stronger._

* * *

"So, obviously, since you're not married, things did change, and for the worst," Hannah deducted.

"Oh yeah. Things changed far more than I could have ever imagined. Becky had the baby on November 14th, and everything was going great. We decided on naming her Alexandra Nicole Johnson. Alexandra is my mom's name, and Nicole is her mom's name. Since they were so supportive and helpful during her pregnancy, we used their names. Even after Lexi was born, they were both godsends. I know we couldn't have done it without them."

Hannah smiled.

"For a while, up until the spring semester started, I would go over to her house everyday after classes or practice. She was living at her parent's house with the baby, and I was in a dorm at school. No one at school knew about the baby, and since my dad was my coach, keeping it under wraps was really easy. Lexi's first Christmas was wonderful, even though she's too little to remember it. We were all so happy. Then Becky started school in January. That's when things started going downhill."

* * *

_February 1976_

_"Want to go to the party tomorrow?" Becky asked Mark while they were eating lunch together in the student union._

_"No, I'm going to stay home. Actually, I'm going to my parent's house to visit Lexi. I haven't seen her too much all week because I've been so busy with hockey."_

_"Well, I have. I've been home every night with her," Becky said with an edge. Since she lost her scholarship, she wasn't dorming like Mark._

_Mark didn't know why she was in such a bad mood. "You can go. I just don't want to."_

_"I wanted to spend some time with you though."_

_"Well, we're together right now. And you can see me the rest of the weekend. My dad gave us a weekend off."_

_"Fine, I'll go by myself."_

_Mark couldn't help but notice that Becky was still a little pissed sounding, but he couldn't help it. What did she expect him to do?_

_A few weeks went by, and the same thing happened each weekend. Becky would go out to get a break, and Mark would stay home with their baby. Not that he minded, and after all, was with the baby more during the week. But Mark wanted them to all spend time together as a family, and Becky never wanted to stay home. Soon, she began going out on weeknights too._

_One night, Mark stopped by her house to see her and the baby. To his surprise, Becky and a few friends were there, but the baby wasn't._

_"Becky, where's Lexi?" Mark asked._

_"How would I know where your sister is?" Becky asked, not wanting to say it was their baby. "She's probably at your parent's house."_

_Now Mark was pissed because he knew she was drunk and it wasn't the first time. At least the baby wasn't there though._

_"What's that smell?" he asked._

_"Pot," someone Mark didn't know, answered. "Want some?"_

_"No," Mark said, angrily. "I'm leaving."_

_"Mark, please stay," Becky said. "I haven't seen you all week." Mark pulled away from his girlfriend's reach. "Mark, I'm beginning to understand what drives some girls to cheat. When their family and baby sister becomes more important than their girlfriend, the girlfriend has get it from another source." Becky gave a guy nearby a look with her glazed over eyes. The guy just smiled back._

_"If you're threatening to cheat on me, go ahead," Mark said and left the house to see his daughter._

* * *

"So she cheated on you?" Hannah asked.

"I don't know. I guess I prefer not to know. I do know that she was doing drugs and getting drunk all the time though. Our relationship started getting really rocky. I had serious thoughts of breaking up with her, but thought I owed it to her and the baby to stay with her. Plus, she wasn't really fit to be a mother. My parents, and mom especially, began taking care of Lexi the most. Becky hardly ever saw her. Lexi did go to Becky's parents a lot, but Becky just avoided taking care of her. One day when Becky actually was taking care of Lexi, I went to pick them both up, and Becky wasn't there. Her parent's were, but Becky was gone. They said she went to the store. Two days later I called because I still hadn't heard from her. Her parent's told me that she went to California with some friends. After about a month, I realized she was never coming back."

"You haven't even spoken to her since?"

"Only through her parents."

"Wow," Hannah said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm far better off without her. She wasn't a good mother. Not that I'm perfect, but I think I make an okay father compared to her. At least I'm not drugged out and drunk all the time. I'm just so thankful I listened to my mom. If not, I could be a very unhappily married man."

"And you wouldn't have me," Hannah added for him.

"Well, we could still be friends, you never know."

"I don't think I could stand just being your friend, Mark," Hannah half whispered, looking into his eyes.

"Well, I can hardly stand being just your friend, but I'm managing to make it work. It's better than nothing," Mark said, wondering if this was going where he thought it was going.

"Maybe, but I think things could be much better," Hannah said, slowly leaning toward him.

Mark and Hannah then shared a kiss, and pulled apart a few seconds later, both smiling.


	16. School Days

NellieBly413672: Thanks, glad you liked it. And there will definitely be a huge confrontation with the mom, lol. Not this chapter though. This one has something else you've been waiting for...

Meadow567: Oops. I didn't even think about the rollerblades not being around. It's funny too, because I was going to have them do something else (although right now I can't think of what it was) in a different chapter, and I realized it didn't exist then. Thanks for the review though, glad you enjoyed it.

A/N: Sorry for the very long delay. I could go on and on about why I haven't posted, but it would take too long. Anyway, here's the chapter and please review, I love reading them. Enjoy the chapter!

On Monday morning before practice, Mark dropped a very excited Lexi off at preschool. She couldn't wait to go. For her first day, she wore a brand new outfit she just got for her birthday.

"Lexi, have fun and be good. Make sure you listen to you listen to your teacher. Do what she says, and don't mouth off," Mark warned her. "I'll pick you up at lunch time."

"Daddy, you need to leave now," Lexi told Mark as her teacher came into the hall to greet them.

"She'll be fine, Dad," Lexi's teacher said with an encouraging smile. When Mark met Jenny the previous week, he immediately liked her. She was really young, like Hannah, and also like Hannah, she seemed warm and friendly, perfect for teaching preschool. "Hi Lexi," Jenny said turning to the little girl. "I'm Miss Landers. Are you excited for your first day?"

"Yeah, I'm a lot excited," replied Lexi.

"Why don't we go inside and meet your classmates?" Jenny led Lexi into the classroom, and after receiving a wave from Jenny, Mark left. He was glad Lexi was going to school and going to be around kids her own age.

Practice wasn't too bad that morning, and at twelve thirty, Mark finished up and went to pick up Lexi. The entire way back to the dorms, Lexi wouldn't stop talking about her first day.

"Anna was really nice. She let me play house with her. And Valerie played Candyland with me. But Jason was mean. We went to the gym and there were hockey sticks. I wanted to play and he said that only boys could play. He said girls weren't allowed to play hockey. So I showed him. Miss Landers said he had to let me play, so when we started playing, I pushed him and knocked him down. He got hurt and cried."

"Alexandra Nicole!" Mark yelled as Lexi giggled. "Don't laugh. It's not funny when people get hurt."

"He deserved it."

"Did you get in trouble?"

"No. Miss Landers thought it was an accident," Lexi said giggling again.

"Lexi, you can't try to hurt people like that. It isn't nice."

"But you knock people down all the time in hockey. You said it was part of the game."

"That's different Lexi."

"Why?"

"Because I only do it if I have to."

"I had to push Jason."

Mark sighed. He hated explaining everything easy enough for a four-year-old to understand. "Well, don't do it again, okay."

"Okay," Lexi said.

Later that night, Mark had really wanted to see Hannah, but unfortunately she had plans with her sister. After talking over the weekend, and more importantly, kissing, they decided to once again try being a couple. Now that they were finally back together, Mark wanted to make sure he didn't make any more stupid mistakes to jeopardize their relationship.

Instead of going out, Mark ended up staying in and putting Lexi to bed early. Of course, she complained, but Mark told her that she needed a goodnight sleep because of school. Mac and most of the other guys had also stayed in that night, so Mark didn't have to sit in his dorm alone. He ended up having a couple beers and watching a hockey game.

"So, how's everything with Hannah these days?" Verchota asked casually during an intermission.

"Fine," Mark answered, not wanting go into details and talk about their new relationship.  
"Ohhh, I think that means someone's getting laid," Bah teased.

"No, that means someone's been making out and doing other high school stuff," Silky interjected. "You have to remember we're talking about Mark here."

"Uh, yeah, but let's not forget he has a daughter. He's obviously definitely more experienced than all of us," Verchota said.

"Okay, whatever. For one thing, that doesn't mean anything," Mark said. "For two, why do we always talk about me? Seriously, whenever we hang out as a team, somehow the conversation ends up about me."

"Yeah, that's because you're by far the most interesting," Bah said.

"Well, he's the most fun to talk about and tease," OC said. "Plus, we discuss everyone else plenty, but Lexi's with you a lot, or you're with Hannah. When you're with just us guys, we need to talk about your love life."

"Can't we talk about you, OC? How many girls have you been with since we got here?" Mark asked.

"A better question might be how many girls has he been with since last week," Silky joked. A few guys laughed, including OC. Then OC stopped laughing.

"I've gotten better," he said, meaning he hadn't been with that many girls. "I'm actually in a bit of a rut."

Jimmy laughed, knowing OC hadn't met anyone in Minnesota. "A rut? Is that what you call it?"

Rizzo made a comment too. "OC, just admit that you're all talk."

Now OC got defensive. "I am not all talk. You know me better than anyone here. How many nights in college did I come home with a girl?"

"Less often than you made it seem," Rizzo mumbled.

"Okay, fine. I'll make a bet that I'll bring home a girl by the end of this week. Twenty bucks." OC pulled out a twenty to show his seriousness.

"I'll be in on this bet," Mac piped up. Although he and OC got along better now, they both often made their exact opposite opinions on a subject known. Anything to begin an argument.

Rizzo then put up his hands in defense. "I'm not making a bet. I won't do that to another girl. You'll just be using her."

OC and Rizzo began arguing then, and a few of the guys began trying to stop them.

"Are you like brothers or something?" Verchota asked. "You two sound like me when I'm at home with my brothers."

"I'd rather have to talk about me again," Mark also commented.

Luckily the game came back on minutes later, and then OC and Rizzo shut up.

* * *

The next day after practice Mark was trying to hurry so that he could be on time to pick Lexi up. Unfortunately, Craig came in the locker room and told Mark that Herb needed to see him. He ensured Mark it was nothing to be concerned about, but Mark knew he was going to be late now. He looked over at OC, who was the only person standing nearby.

"I'll pick up the little rugrat," OC offered.

"Thanks. I owe you one," Mark said.

"Yeah, yeah." OC then walked away to find someone else to tag along. "Who's not busy in like five minutes?" No one really answered, though they all heard him. "Come on. I know someone's not busy."

"What do you need?" Bah finally asked.

"Want to go pick Lexi up with me?"

"No."

"Come on. I don't want to go by myself. Mark's meeting with Herb, so I'm picking her up."

"I'll go," Mac offered.

"Maybe going by myself won't be so bad," OC said.

"Suit yourself. But my offer stands." OC looked around the room for anyone else that might offer. No one made eye contact. Apparently they all had better things to do.

"Fine. Come with me. I don't care."

The drive to pick up Lexi was pretty quiet, except for the radio being on in the background. Both guys were glad to finally get there.

"Do you know where we go?" asked Mac.

"No. Do you?"

"No."

The guys wandered inside and began looking for a sign to lead them to Lexi's classroom. They happened to run into a mother and little boy, as they assumed they were coming from the place they were trying to find. Following the woman's directions, Mac and OC went to the classroom.

The door was open and they poked their heads inside.

"Hey Lexi," OC said once he saw her, playing with some toys by herself. OC's voice also caught the teacher's attention.

"Are you here to pick Lexi up?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm Jack. And this is Robbie. Mark's meeting with our coach and he asked us to get Lexi.

"Okay. I was sort of hoping to speak to Mark for a minute today though. Will he be here tomorrow?"

"Yeah, he should be. We can give him a message though," OC said.

"Okay, I'll talk to you a minute then. Maybe I'll give Mark a call tonight to let him know anyway." Jenny led the two hockey players into the hall. "I'm Jenny by the way."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Jenny," OC said with the charm of his Boston drawl. Mac rolled his eyes. Did OC make a pass at every girl he met?

Jenny sort of ignored OC's attempt at being more than polite and began talking about the problem.

Just before the three left, Mac and Lexi were near the end of the hallway, and OC began talking to Jenny.

"Look, I normally don't do this, but… are you busy tonight?" OC asked.

"I have a feeling you do do that often, but no, I'm not." OC smiled. Jenny could see right through his game.

"Want to have dinner and catch a movie?"

"Sure. But I just want you to know that I'm not really looking to start anything right now. You'd just be my rebound guy."

"Just breakup?" OC asked.

"Yeah, about a month ago. And I see my ex all the time. I'm not over him by a long shot."

"I don't mind being the rebound guy," OC said with a grin. "I'm good at making other guys jealous."

"All right then," Jenny said. They quickly discussed a plan and then OC went to catch up with Mac and Lexi.

* * *

"Your teacher is hot!" OC commented to Lexi on the way home.

After thinking about it a minute, Lexi said, "No, today she was cold. She was wearing a sweater." This caused both OC and Mac to laugh.

"He means that he likes you teacher. He has a crush. Like your daddy likes Hannah," Mac informed her.

"I saw them kiss before," Lexi informed them of Mark and Hannah.

"Yeah, and that's what OC wants to do to your teacher," Mac told her. Lexi giggled.

"You think that's funny, munchkin?" OC asked Lexi, looking in the rearview mirror.

"Do you want to marry her?" Lexi asked, out of no where.

OC and Mac looked at each other. Where did she come up with these ideas?

"No, but I want to do her," OC said with a laugh.

"Do what with her?" Lexi asked innocently.

OC and Mac began laughing even harder this time. Teasing Lexi when she hadn't the slightest clue what was going on was so funny.

"Why are you two laughing a lot?" Lexi asked.

"Well, I'm laughing at OC, because he has a funny looking face. I don't know why he's laughing though," Mac told Lexi, who laughed at the response.

When OC and Mac returned to the dorms with Lexi, Mark was back in his room. Herb just wanted to know how everything was going with Lexi being around, and if Mark needed help with anything. Apparently Patti had offered to babysit Lexi once in a while, and Herb wanted to let Mark know.

"How was school?" Mark asked his daughter.

"Good," Lexi replied. Before she could begin talking about her day though, Mac cleared his throat.

"Is there something you want to tell your dad?" Lexi just shook her head. "Okay, then I'll tell him," Mac said. "Lexi had a few problems in school today. Miss Landers is going to call you later, but it seems that Lexi wasn't sharing the toys today during playtime."

"She put in time out!" Lexi yelled, as if time out was unheard of.

"Well, you were being bad," Mark said.

"No. Megan wanted to play with a doll that I was using first."

"Miss Landers said that you had been using it all morning. Megan asked if she could use her for a minute," Mac said.

"You don't know. You weren't there!" Lexi protested.

"Your teacher told me."

"She was making it up," Lexi said.

"Okay, enough!" Mark said, before the two got out of hand arguing. Sometimes it seemed like he had two kids with the way Mac and Lexi argued. "Lexi, I don't think your teacher would lie."

"But I had the doll first," Lexi said. "It's not fair Megan got to use it. Only one person can use it at a time, and I had her."

"But you need to share and play with the other kids. Everybody needs to play with the toys. They're not just yours."

"But I had it first," Lexi said again, exasperated, as if no one heard her the first several times.

Mark sighed. Sometimes Lexi was so difficult. "Okay, let's think of things like hockey. Just because I might get the puck first, it doesn't mean I get to keep the puck. I need to pass it to Mac for example. Everyone needs a turn. It's the same with the toys at school. Everyone needs a turn and you can't keep one toy for too long. You need to pass it off to someone else."

"It's called sharing," Mac said, trying to help. Mark gave him a look that told him to shut up. He didn't need another argument ensuing.

"From now on, you need to share in school, and everywhere really."

"Okay. I'm hungry. I want a snack," Lexi said, immediately getting off the subject of sharing.

"Let's have some lunch."

As Mark was making Lexi's sandwich, not paying too much attention to his daughter, Lexi decided to test the sharing lesson. She climbed up on the cupboard and got a bag of Tootsie Rolls down. They were Mac's. She sat on the coach and had a few while she was waiting for lunch.

Mac, who had gone into the bathroom, came out and saw Lexi eating his candy.

"Hey, those are mine. I told you that they weren't for you!" Mac said, grabbing the bag away from her. "You didn't even ask!"

"But Daddy said you have to share."

"He told you to share. Not me," Mac said.

"Daddy, Mac won't let me have some candy. He's not sharing."

"Mac, you should share with Lexi."

"Excuse me? These are mine. I bought them for me. Lexi didn't even ask."

"But Mac, we just talked about the importance of sharing," Mark said, raising his eyebrows at Mac. "Lexi isn't the only one that needs to share."

"Come on. Are you serious, Mark?" Mark looked over at him, and mouthed, 'I'll buy you more.' Content, Mac gave Lexi the bag.

Lexi stuck out her tongue at Mac, in her way of saying, "I won."

Mac just stuck his tongue out back, just as Mark turned around.

"Mac, how old are we?"

"She did it first!"

Mark rolled his eyes. He was taking care of two kids. "Lexi's four. You're 22."

* * *

The next morning, Lexi, Mark, and Hannah were having breakfast together downstairs. Since Hannah had been really busy that week at night, she came over for breakfast and to take Lexi to school. They were enjoying their meal when they noticed a disheveled OC walk by. Mark stopped him.

"Hey OC. Look's like someone didn't make it home last night, Mark commented. He was only joking but was surprised by OC's reply.

"You're right. And I'm gonna pay for my fun in practice today. I'm exhausted."

"You couldn't be that tired," Hannah said. "You're a guy. Guys fall asleep right after…" she trailed off and looked at Lexi. The guys knew exactly what she meant though.

"Not all guys," Mark said.

"That's bull," Hannah said.

"Well I didn't last night," OC said, then smiled. "After the fourth or fifth time I did, but not right away."

"That was an over share," Hannah said.

"Who were you with?" Mark asked.

"Someone you all know," OC said.

"Oh no. Please don't tell me it was Maggie," Hannah groaned, thinking for sure that it had been her friend.

"No, it wasn't Maggie. I'll give you a hint. She didn't need me to_ teach_ her anything," OC said and smiled.

"You went on a date with my teacher!" Lexi said immediately. She hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, but she had caught on that a guessing game was about to begin.

"Lexi, OC doesn't even know your teacher," Hannah said. Mark hit himself in the head, as if wondering how he could have been so dumb. Having OC pick Lexi up? Of all people.

"He met her yesterday. And he liked her like you like Daddy. He wanted to kiss her."

"Oh. My. God. You slept with Jenny!" Hannah said.

"Yes. I slept with Jenny. Is it that hard to believe?"

"Yes! Well, not that you… but Jenny's just getting over a breakup. And you took advantage."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she wanted it," OC said, smiling at the memory. "Yeah, she wanted it real bad."

Mark couldn't help but laugh, and Hannah smacked him.

"This is not funny. I work with her. And now it's my fault when you never call. I'm gonna be taking the blame."

"Don't worry. I'm definitely calling," OC said. "She was good. Like really, really good. One of the best I've ever had. I mean, I didn't think she would be. She's hot but, I don't know. I just never expected… she's a preschool teacher for God sakes."

"Are you stereotyping preschool teachers?" Hannah asked.

"Actually, all elementary school teachers," OC said, teasing Hannah.

"I take offense to that," she said.

"Can you be proved wrong?" OC asked, looking at Mark.

"OC, we haven't slept together. Get off it!" Mark said.

"You wouldn't tell me anyway," OC said. "But Lexi would. You haven't had any sleepovers, have you?"

At this point, Lexi was really confused by the whole conversation and didn't answer. Just as Hannah began to scold OC again for sleeping with Jenny, Lexi spoke up.

"Did you have a sleepover at my teacher's house?" Lexi asked OC.

"As a matter of fact I did."

"What did you do there?"

"We kissed. A lot."

"OC, don't tell her things like that. She'll end up repeating it in school," Mark said.

"No she won't. It's a thing of trust. She won't tell anyone."

"You'd be surprised what four year olds will say."

"You better hope she doesn't say anything, OC. Because if she does, I'll…" Hannah left the threat hanging, but OC got the message.

"Lexi, you can't tell anyone I kissed your teacher. Promise me that you won't."

"Nope. Not promising."

"Lexi, please," OC said.

"Five dollars please," Lexi said, holding out her hand.

"Mark, you had to teach her it's okay to use bribes, didn't you?" OC said, pulling a five dollar bill from his wallet. "Well, that's okay. As long as the kid's happy. I made at least 40 last night anyway."

"Rizzo and Mac's bet," Mark said, knowingly. Hannah gave Mark a questioning look, and then Mark silently told her he'd tell her later.

"I'll be more than happy to pick Lexi up today," OC said.

"Sure you would," Hannah said.

"We'll see," Mark said.

"Mark, don't let him," Hannah said.

"Hannah, you should be glad that I'm trying to see her again," OC said with reason.

"Just so you can sleep with her?" Hannah asked rhetorically.

"At least it won't be a one night stand."

"He has a point Hannah," Mark said.

"I don't want OC to use Jenny for sex," Hannah said.

"What's sex?" Lexi asked.

The three adults looked at the little girl. "You had to open up _that _can or worms, didn't you?" Mark asked Hannah, trying to think of a good way to explain sex to a four year old.


	17. Meet the Parents

meadow567: Glad you liked it and thought it was funny! There's going to be drama coming up over the next couple chapters, so I wanted that chapter to be funny. Thanks for the review!

NellieBly413672: I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the review! I tried to make it funny before the drama that's going to be coming up. Enjoy the chapter.

katydid13: Yeah, thats the general consensus, lol. Glad you thought it was funny and thanks for reviewing. I love getting even short ones like that! Enjoy the next chapter.

A/N: This chapter won't be as funny as the last, sorry about that. There's going to be drama coming up. A little in this chapter but even more in the next. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it and please review! I love getting reviews and the more I get the more motivated I usually am to write. Enjoy!

On Friday night, everyone was hanging out in OC and Rizzo's room, including Lexi. The guys were all talking about their usual topics, sports and girls, while watching a game and Lexi was playing with some toys. No one realized Lexi had been listening to anything they were saying, until Mark mentioned Jenny and OC. Lexi knew that Jenny was Miss Landers' first name, and right away, she piped up.

"Miss Landers and OC had sex!" Lexi announced. Everyone in the room looked at Lexi with their jaws dropped. They weren't surprised OC had sex, but they were surprised that Lexi knew about it, and what sex was for that matter.

"Lexi! You weren't supposed to say anything," OC said. "Now I need my money back." OC knew Lexi wouldn't give him the bribe back, but he thought he'd try.

"Lexi, do you know what that means?" Jimmy asked, not really believing that Lexi actually knew the meaning of sex.

"Yeah. He told me. They kissed a lot and with their tongues. I think it's disgusting," the little girl said, making a face.

"That's what I thought," Jimmy said, knowing that Lexi couldn't possibly know what sex was.

"You can give OC the credit for that," Mark said. Then, he added quietly, "When Hannah told her sex was just kissing, Lexi thought everyone had sex, including herself… so OC told her it was using tongue."

"That was smart," Rizzo said.

"I used to think sex was making out," Verchota added.

"Ha, probably until like, last year," Silky joked.

"Yeah, that's why he thinks he had it so many times," Bah commented.

"It was only until I was ten."

"Well, I walked in on my parents when I was six – and I was scarred for life," Mac said. "It was an awful experience. You just better be careful, Mark. You don't want the same thing happening to you."

* * *

The following night, Mark went out and took Patti up on her offer to watch Lexi. He was meeting Hannah at the usual team bar, and the other guys were going too. As far as he knew, OC was bringing Jenny, and a few of the other guys were bringing girls too. Mark remembered meeting some of the girls weeks before, but now he couldn't really remember them.

Hannah, Maggie, Jenny, Mac, OC, and Mark hung out most of the night, mainly because the three girls knew each other, and no one really knew any of the other girls well. In a loud, crowded bar, it was too hard trying to get to know people.

"Are you two dating now?" Hannah asked Jenny, referring to her and OC.

"No. We're friends."

Hannah looked at them skeptically. "Friends with benefits?"

"No," Jenny said, clearly pretending not to know what Hannah was talking about.

"OC told us," Hannah said.

"Told you what?" Maggie asked. She and Mac were clueless.

Hannah just looked at Jenny for an answer.

"Fine," Jenny said. "We had sex. It doesn't mean we're dating."

"You just broke up with Brad," Hannah reminded her.

"OC offered to be my rebound guy," Jenny said with a smile.

"But you're not dating?"

"No," Jenny told her, in a definite tone.

"Why would it matter if we were dating?" OC asked Hannah.

"I told you," Hannah said, rolling her eyes.

"Obviously he needs to be reminded," Mark said.

"I'm not that bad a guy," OC said.

"Yeah you are," Mac interjected.

"Whatever," OC said, half ignoring Mac. "Jenny doesn't think so," he added, making Jenny blush.

"I heard you're not that great a guy yourself," Maggie told Mac, referring to his last comment about OC being a bad guy.

"I'm a good guy," Mac said in his defense.

"Not according to Mark's sister."

Mac rolled his eyes. Another reference to Kelly. "You're joking, right? You've never even met Kelly. How can you know how much she hates me?"

"I bet she likes you," OC said. "It's like in grade school when you pulled a girl's curls if you liked them. That's what I did at least."

"I never did that," Mac said. The three girls laughed.

"Neither did I," Mark added when OC looked over at him.

"You've got to be kidding. Everyone did that. This girl Mary Ellen in my class had curly hair. Everyone called her Shirley Temple. And I always pulled her hair."

OC's story got everyone into more stories of when they were kids, and they all had fun talking for a while. A little after eleven, a lot of the guys started leaving, to do other things with the girls they were with. Since Mac was going right back to the dorms, he offered to pick Lexi up, so Mark could go to Hannah's apartment for a while.

For the next couple hours, Mark and Hannah hung out, watching TV and making out at her place. Mark was really glad things were back to the way they were before Lexi came. He was also really glad that Hannah liked Lexi and enjoyed being with her.

Just as Mark was getting ready to leave, Hannah asked about Lexi's Mom. "Does Lexi ever wonder where her mom is?"

"No, she never asks. With her being so little, it's not that hard, and I don't think she really knows the difference, but I know when she's older not having a mom around will be hard."

"But does she ever get to do girl stuff? Like bake cookies, go shopping, play dress up… and other stuff like that?"

"She did at my mom's. But since she's come here she really hasn't too much, unless my sister's here."

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Hannah asked, and from the glow in her eyes, Mark knew Hannah had an idea.

"I have a game tomorrow afternoon, at 4:00, but other than that, nothing. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I was planning on it. What are you doing with Lexi before hand?"

"I was just gonna bring her. I have to be at the rink for the pregame warm up at 2:00."

"Can I spend the day with her? I want to do some girl stuff."

"Hannah, you don't have to," Mark said, not wanting Hannah to feel obligated.

"No, I want to. It'll be like when I babysat in high school. I loved babysitting, but I haven't done it in so long. Please?"

Mark knew Hannah wanted to spend time with Lexi, and he knew Lexi would probably like it. "Okay, sure."

"Can I pick her up at ten?"

"Sure," Mark said. Seeing Hannah's smile, he had the sudden urge to hug her, so he wrapped his arms around her.

Hannah reached up and kissed him. After a few seconds, they broke apart.

"You're amazing," Hannah told him. "Lexi really is lucky to have a dad like you."

Mark gave Hannah another quick kiss. "You think?" was Mark's response, though he didn't believe it.

"I know. And I'm lucky to have you too." Hannah and Mark kissed again, this time longer than the last. Hannah began playing with the hair down by his neck, and Mark's hands resting on her waist began softly rubbing up and down her sides. Their kiss deepened more, before they pulled away.

"I better go."

"Yeah," Hannah said in agreement.

"You're not making it easy," Mark said with a smile.

"That's because I don't want you to go," Hannah said.

"I know, but I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay." They gave each other another quick kiss and Mark headed out.

* * *

Hannah picked Lexi up the next morning, right on time, and said a quick hi to Mark and Mac before taking Lexi. Lexi was so excited for her day with Hannah. When Mark told Lexi about it, she couldn't wait.

"Are we gonna make cookies, Hannah?" Lexi asked. "Daddy told me we might."

"Sure, we can bake cookies, play dress up, go shopping... we can do whatever you want today."

"Yay!" Lexi said, jumping up and down. Mark walked over to Hannah.

"Thanks for doing this Hannah," Mark said, and gave Hannah a kiss. "I know she'll have fun."

"Bye Daddy," Lexi said, already walking to the door.

"I better get going. Your daughter wants to get the show on the road," Hannah said, giving Mark a kiss goodbye. "See you at the game."

On their way out the door, Hannah asked what kind of cookies Lexi wanted to make.

"Chocolate chip! They're my favorite."

"Mine too," Hannah said.

After the girls left, Mac made a comment to Mark.

"Hannah's really good with Lexi. She's like a natural at taking care of kids."

"Yeah, I can see why she's a teacher."

"She's practically like a Mom to her," Mac said.

Mark groaned. "Don't get any ideas. Hannah is not Lexi's mom. We haven't even been dating that long. Don't get me wrong. I like that Hannah is so good with Lexi. It makes it easier to date her because they get along… but we're not one happy family or anything. I'm just glad that Lexi has someone like Hannah. Before she came here, Kelly filled that motherlyish role. I want Lexi to have a girl around."

"Mark, I think you're fooling yourself. You're in love with Hannah and you know it."

"I'm not in love with Hannah. I like her, a lot. I love certain things about her, but I don't love her. Not yet anyways."

"Okay, fine. But I can guarantee that you won't be able to deny it much longer."

* * *

After the game that night, which they won 4-2, Hannah came down to the locker room with Lexi. They waited outside until Mark came out.

"Hi Daddy," Lexi said, and ran up to Mark to give him a hug.

"Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah. It was so fun. First we made cookies, and then I played dress up in Hannah's clothes. She had lots of dress up clothes. And she made me pretty. See, I got nail pink nail polish and I got lipstick!"

Mark did see that Lexi's lips were a little red, and her nails were pink. Hannah must have also done her hair, because it looked better than what he could do. He was glad Lexi had so much fun.

"Thanks Hannah," he told her, and gave quick kiss.

"It was fun. And we have some cookies for you too," Hannah said, handing him a plate of cookies.

"Yum, thanks," Mark said. He took the plastic wrap off the plate Hannah handed him. "I'll have one right now."

"Do you want to hang out for a while?" Hannah asked. Mark knew Mac was going out, and he wanted to get Lexi in bed in a little while, so he told Hannah to come over.

Until Lexi went to bed, Hannah and Mark kept their activities G-rated. Their playful flirting went unnoticed by the little girl. Two hours later though, when they were sure Lexi was finally asleep, Mark and Hannah began making out.

"Mark, we have to stop… Lexi's right in the other room," Hannah said, whispering so she wouldn't wake Lexi, as things were getting heated. Mark's shirt was off and he was on top of Hannah on the bed, now supporting himself up and unbuttoning Hannah's shirt.

"Is that the only reason we're going to stop?" Mark asked, also quietly, leaning down and sucking her collarbone gently. "Because if it is, we can go someplace else. Or we could always move Lexi's bed into the hall."

Hannah laughed, knowing Mark was kidding. Just as they began kissing again, they heard Lexi moving around in bed, and they looked over. She was still asleep, but now they had even more reason to stop.

"Okay, I think you're right. We do need to stop. The last thing I need Lexi telling people is that we're having sex," Mark said, and they both laughed a little. Mark rolled over so he was now next to Hannah. He lay on his side, supporting his head up with his arm.

"I should probably go anyway. I have to work tomorrow. And I know you have practice," Hannah said, though not making any attempt to get out of Mark's bed.

"Yeah, I have a feeling it's going to be a long one. We only have practice three days this week because of Thanksgiving."

"Speaking of Thanksgiving, what are you and Lexi doing?" Hannah asked.

"Well, I think the guys that are still here are having dinner and stuff. A lot of them are going home for a couple of days though. I don't really have specific plans. I'll probably just hang out here. I'm not going home for the couple days."

"Do you want to come to my parent's house?" Hannah asked. "My mom's making dinner, and you and Lexi are more than welcome to come."

"Do your parents know I have a daughter?" Mark asked, unsure whether they knew about Lexi. It wasn't like they could have even known much about him.

"Umm…" Hannah started. Mark raised his eyebrows, asking her to tell him. "Well, I did tell them."

"But…" Mark said, sensing there was something she was avoiding.

"Well, I guess they were surprised. I was telling them about what a nice guy you were and everything, and then I mentioned that you had a little girl, and they said 'that's nice,' which means they didn't know what else to say."

"So they already don't like me?" Mark asked. "Did they invite us to dinner to be nice?" he wondered out loud, thinking him and Lexi probably weren't wanted there.

"No, they want to meet you, and Lexi. My parents… well my mom that is. My dad doesn't say much about me dating, because I haven't done it in so long. But my mom thinks its great that I'm finally dating again, and that I've gotten over everything that happened with my last boyfriend. When I told her you had a daughter, I think her first impression was a little altered, but I quickly changed that."

"Now will I have to try even harder to make a good first impression?" Mark wondered. He wasn't sure what Hannah's mom thought. He felt like he was getting mixed signals from Hannah about what her parents thought.

"No, she'll like you. And Lexi. I told her how cute Lexi was and with all the talking I do about her and how you're such a good father. I told her the story about Lexi's mom too, and she thinks you're really responsible and mature for taking care of her."

"So there's no issue with us meeting them then?" Mark asked, referring to him and Lexi, but still sensing there was something a little off. Why was Hannah making such a big deal about this?

"No. The only reason my mom is concerned is because she doesn't want me getting too attached to either of you. And she doesn't think it's good for Lexi either."

"Is she a child psychologist or something?"

Hannah laughed. "Yeah."

"Wonderful. Now I'll really be judged on my parenting skills. Or lack thereof." Now Mark knew why Hannah was a little hesitant to be nothing but enthusiastic about Mark and Lexi going over there.

Hannah playfully hit his chest. "You're a good parent. Lexi's lucky to have you for a father."

Mark sighed. "I don't know. Sometimes, I almost think I would have been better off giving her up for adoption."

Hannah pulled away from Mark and sat up. "How can you say such a thing!?" she asked in a loud whisper.

"Hannah, I had her at eighteen. I never even held a baby until Lexi was born. If I would have known Becky was going to check out, I would have given her up. It would have been better for her. She could have had a good life – a better life – with parents who could really care for her."

"Mark, how can you regret your daughter?" Hannah asked, still shocked.

"I don't regret her. I regret the stupid decisions I made."

"It's the same thing!"

"No, it's not," Mark said, trying to reason with Hannah. They were beginning to get loud and Mark was afraid they would wake Lexi up. He looked over at his peacefully sleeping daughter. "I love Lexi. But I know she deserves better. I love her so much that I want her to be happy all the time."

"Mark, are you blind? Lexi is happy. You know what she told me today? That she loves it here in Minnesota. She's so happy she's living here with you. Lexi seems to think she has the best dad in the world. It doesn't matter to her that you had her at eighteen, or that her mom left, or that you put hockey first a lot more than her."

"I always put Lexi first," Mark countered, getting angry.

"Then why were you here for months while she was in Wisconsin?"

"I was thinking of her! I was doing what was best for her!" Mark yelled, and now Lexi was awake. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

"Daddy?" she called.

"I'm sorry I woke you up sweetie," Mark said, walking over to her and picking her up. Lexi immediately clung to him, wrapping her little arms tight around her dad.

Hannah quietly left, knowing it wasn't a good idea to talk anymore that night. She and Mark were both angry, and it they tried to talk anymore, things would just escalate. Hannah knew Mark was a good father, but she didn't understand why he didn't see it.

* * *

With as busy as Mark was the next day, he wasn't surprised that he didn't hear from Hannah. He wasn't sure whether he owed her an apology or the other way around. Relationships were tough. That evening, OC, Silky, Verchota, and Bah came over to play cards in Mark and Mac's room. Lexi was playing with toys by herself like normal, while the guys played cards. Once Lexi began getting tired, she walked over to her dad and climbed up on his lap. She sat quietly and watched their game, leaning her head back on Mark's chest. The guys went about their conversation.

"…So I don't know what to do," Verchota finished. "I mean, meeting her parents is like serious and all. And I'm not serious about out relationship," he said. He was talking about how Dana wanted him to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. He was wondering what the guys thought he should do.

"Just go," OC said. "It's free food. Nothing beats a free home cooked meal."

"But I don't want to meet her parents."

"Do you like sleeping with her?" Silky asked. "Because if you don't meet her parents, that will be the end of that."

"I have a similar situation Verchota," Bah said. "I was going to go home. But Kate wants me to go to her parents. Now, I've met them before, we were like best friends in high school, but I don't want to go. I wanted to go to my parent's house. My grandmother has cancer and it will probably be her last Thanksgiving. My mom will be pissed if I don't come home."

"Invite Kate to your house," OC said, as if that was an obvious option.

"I know she won't want to come. She gonna want to spend the day with her family too."

"Then don't spend Thanksgiving with your girlfriend. We can have a Bachelor's night here," Mark said.

"Aren't you going to Hannah's?" Rizzo asked.

"I don't know."

"I want to go to Hannah's," Lexi said. Mark almost forgot she was there because she had been so quiet.

"We'll see," was Mark's response.

"All this talk is making me really glad I don't have a girlfriend," Mac said. "I won't have to go through any drama." He took his turn, they were playing Euchre, and then asked, "Are any of you going home?" directed at the three Boston guys.

"We all are," Rizzo said for the group. "And Jimmy is too. We're on the same flight."

"Those poor flight attendants," Bah said.

"Or maybe lucky flight attendants," Verchota chimed in.

"My mom wanted me to come home so badly that she's paying for my ticket. I told her I was too broke to come home," OC said.

"Yeah, same with my mom," Silky said. "I guess my dad wants me home, but my mom offered to buy my plane ticket when she heard OC's mom was buying his."

After a few more turns, the game was almost over, and Lexi asked a question Mark never saw coming.

"Do you all have mommy's?" she asked the group. No one really responded, because they didn't know what to say. They just looked at her, and then at Mark, wondering how he was going to address that.

"Everyone has a mom, Lexi," Mark told her.

"Then where's mine? Everybody in my class lives with their mommy."

"Well, you're a little different."

"Why?"

"You just are. I don't live with my mom. Neither does anyone here," Mark told her.

"But you're grown ups. Old people don't live with their mom's."

A couple of the guys laughed at Lexi's comment. It was weird to hear someone call them grown ups. They all knew they were pretty young, and most knew they acted too immature to be actually grown ups.

"Some kids don't live with their mom's either," Mark tried explaining.

"Well, sometimes mommies and daddies realize that they don't love each other anymore."

"You and my mommy don't love each other?"

"Well… it's complicated Lexi," Mark said, instead of trying to explain.

"We better get going," Rizzo said, sensing Mark and Lexi needed some time alone. It sounded like they had a lot to talk about.

"Let's move the card game to one of your rooms," Mac suggested. The guys all got up and left to find a different room to play in.

"How about you get ready for bed?" Mark said to Lexi.

"Why don't you love mommy?"

"Lexi, I told you, it's complicated."

"I don't love her either then," Lexi said.

"That's not nice," Mark said, though he couldn't blame his daughter. She didn't remember anything about Becky.

"Does she love me?" Lexi wondered. Mark couldn't very well tell Lexi that he wasn't sure, so he just said yes, hoping to end the conversation.

"Can I get a new mom someday?" Lexi wondered.

"I don't know," Mark exasperated.

"Hannah could be my new mommy."

"No, Lexi."

"But you love her. And she loves you. And I love her. And she loves me," Lexi said, liked it was simple.

"Lexi, I don't love Hannah."

"But you kiss her. That means you love her."

"Just because you kiss someone doesn't mean you love them," Mark said, now sounding frustrated, which Lexi picked up on. "When people love each other, they tell each other."

Her face turned into a frown and she looked like she was going to cry. "Do you love me?" Lexi wondered.

Mark instantly realized his mistake. He hardly ever told Lexi he loved her, or showed much affection at all for that matter. "Of course I do Lexi."

"You never tell me that."

"I'm sorry. I do love you Lexi. I just love you more than I know how to express, and I guess I'm just not good at saying it." Mark really wanted to get off their current topic of conversation. He was trying to think of something to make her laugh and forget about it, but Lexi continued talking.

In the middle of her sentence, Mark finally thought of something he could do to make her laugh. He began tickling her.

"Daddy!" she shrieked, while giggling. "You're tickling me!"

"I am?"

"Yes! Stop!"

"But I tickle people I love," he said. "And I want you to know that I love you."

Lexi was squirming all around while Mark was tickling her. Suddenly, Mark realized what Lexi really needed more than anything. She needed Mark to show her that he loved her, just by doing little things, like tickling her, reading her stories, giving her a hug, holding her. Being a dad wasn't just about taking care of kid, but really being a part of their life and enjoying them. From now on, Mark really wanted to try to make sure he put Lexi first and did the little things that she needed to know he loved her.

* * *

On Tuesday Mark was with Lexi and Mac in their room after practice when there was a knock at the door. Mac answered it.

"Hey Hannah," Mac said, knowing the reason she was there. Mark told Mac all about their argument involving Lexi. "Come on in." Mac knew Mark would want Hannah to come inside. He was saying earlier how he needed to talk to her.

Mark noticed Hannah walk in. "Hey Hannah," He said.

"Hi Hannah!" Lexi said, excitedly. She ran over and gave Hannah a hug which Hannah gladly accepted.

"Hey guys," she said to both of them.

"Um, I'm gonna take a walk. Lexi, why don't you come with me? We'll go find OC and bother him."

"Okay," she surprisingly agreed immediately. Hannah and Mark were left alone to talk.

"I just came by to apologize for the other night," Hannah said. "I shouldn't have judged you on how you feel about Lexi and the decisions you made or wished you had made."

"I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to make it sound like I don't want Lexi, but sometimes, I just don't know. It's hard, and I know Lexi probably deserves better. You don't get to pick your parents, and when Lexi's older, I don't want her to think she was an accident. I mean, she was, but… I just wish I could say that she's the best thing that's ever happened to me and mean it."

"I'm sure you'll feel that way someday. And I didn't mean to say that you put hockey first above your daughter," Hannah told him apologetically. "I know you're doing your best."

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it."

Hannah wrapped her arms around Mark's neck and pulled close to him. They didn't have to say anything else and just looked in each other's eyes before sharing a deep kiss.


	18. We Are a Family

NellieBly413672: Glad you liked it, thanks for the review. You'll eventually see more with Hannah and Lexi spending quality time together. Hope you like this chapter too!

meadow567: Yeah, Mark's just slow to realize it. But he will... very soon. Hope you like this chapter and thanks for the review!

A/N: Okay, I am so sorry it has been so long since I've updated. I feel really bad. I've been so incredibly busy these past few weeks. Anyway, because I feel so bad, I'm updating twice this weekend. I already have the next chapter written. Altogether, the next two chapters are 12 pages in Word. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys and please review! The next chapter will be up Monday. I promise. Oh yeah, and the title for this... I couldn't help it. It's that song We Are a Family, and the reason is pretty obvious. I was scrolling through the chapter, trying to come up with a title, and I just happened to see the line in there. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

On Thanksgiving morning, Mark was getting Lexi ready to go over to Hannah's parent's house. They weren't going until two, but Mark learned that he could never begin getting Lexi ready too early. Sometimes getting set to go somewhere was such a project.

A few hours later, Mark and Lexi were on their way over, and Mark was nervous. He wanted to make a good impression on her parents because he really liked Hannah, and he also wanted them to like Lexi too. Mark kept reminding Lexi to behave herself and be polite, saying please and thank you.

"And Lexi, make sure you eat whatever they serve. I know they'll serve turkey and everything, being Thanksgiving, but if it's not exactly the way grandma does it, don't say anything. And don't be picky and move food around on your plate if you don't like something. Just eat it and pretend you like it."

Lexi sighed loudly in her way of saying, 'I know.'

"And please don't embarrass me by saying things that you think are funny. Just because my immature friends laugh at you, it doesn't mean you should say it."

"Like when I told Silky to go to hell for hiding my dolly?" Lexi asked in a sweet voice.

"Yeah, don't use any swear words."

"But how am I supposed to know they're bad?"

"Just don't say them," Mark said, not knowing how to answer his daughter's question. "We're here," he said, pulling up in front of the house.

"There's Hannah!" Lexi said as she saw Hannah walk out of the house to greet them.

"We're not late, are we?" Mark asked as he got out of the car, concerned because he got the feeling Hannah was watching and waiting for him. He opened the back door to help Lexi out.

"No, not at all. I just happened to look out the window and saw you pull up. Come on inside."

Lexi ran up quickly behind Hannah. "Do you have any toys here?" she asked. Mark had told Lexi earlier that Hannah probably didn't have any toys for Lexi to play with. Neither Hannah's brother nor sister had any kids yet.

"Mom, Dad," Hannah called as the three walked into the house. Both of her parents were in the kitchen. "Mark and Lexi are here."

Hannah's mom, who Hannah looked a lot like, walked into the living room, followed by her dad.

"You must be Mark," Hannah's mom said, smiling. She gave Mark a hug while Hannah's dad shook Mark's hand. "And you must be Lexi."

"Yep," Lexi said.

"She looks so much like you," Hannah's mom commented.

"It's so nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Dawson," Mark said.

"Please call us Kathy and John. It makes us feel younger."

Just then, a black dog came running through the house up to Hannah.

"Hey Chocolate!" Hannah said, bending down and rubbing her dog's ears. "You have friends here." The dog sniffed Mark and Lexi quickly moved behind Mark. The dog startled her.

"Are you afraid of dogs Lexi?" Hannah asked. Lexi didn't respond.

"Come here. Let her sniff your hand, and then pet her. She's a really nice dog and she likes people." Lexi reluctantly stuck her hand out and did what Hannah said.

"It must be nice having a break from hockey today," Hannah's mom said to make simple conversation with Mark.

"It definitely is. I love hockey, but those days off are always nice too."

After small talk for the next few minutes, Kathy and John went back into the kitchen. "I'm making my husband help get everything ready. As scary as that may sound," Kathy explained.

Mark sat down on the couch next to Hannah as Lexi began playing with the dog, her new favorite thing at the moment. Just as Mark began wondering why John didn't say much, almost thinking that he didn't like Mark, Hannah spoke up.

"Don't mind my dad, either. He's always pretty quiet. Never really has much to say."

"Okay, good. I thought it was me."

"Now way, because if he didn't like you, he'd make comments." Hannah smiled, and Mark smiled back, feeling a little relieved and more at ease. The couple watched an oblivious Lexi play with Chocolate and just as they were getting a little more comfortable, with Mark relaxing and wrapping his arm around Hannah, someone began coming down the stairs.

"Hey Linds," Hannah said. Mark was surprised. Was that really Hannah's sister, Lindsay? She looked nothing like what she looked like in the picture in Hannah's apartment. Lindsay definitely looked over 19, and she was a lot prettier than Mark thought too. And not just prettier, but Lindsay looked… Mark couldn't really describe it. Lindsay was the type of girl that Mark was always intimidated by, but the type that OC and Silky would like.

"Hi. You haven't seen Brian yet, have you?"

"Have you heard the doorbell?" Hannah asked, rhetorically. "You know, a hi to Mark and Lexi would be nice."

"Hi, sorry. I'm just a little annoyed. Brian was supposed to get here almost an hour ago. He's always so late, and I hate it."

Mark assumed Brian was her boyfriend.

"Are you a prostitute?" Lexi asked just as Hannah's dad walked back in the living room.

"I've been asking her that ever since she started dating Brian," John commented. Mark was so embarrassed though. The guys on the team were such a bad influence on her.

"How old are you?" Lindsay asked Lexi.

"Four."

"How do you know what a prostitute is?"

"OC told me it's someone who wears a lot of makeup, and shiny clothes that are too small." Lindsay did have on a lot of makeup, along with a short length dress that was sort of shiny. It looked like she was going to a club, not having dinner with family.

"Well, I'm not wearing this all night. I wanted to see if this is okay for the wedding I'm going to with Brian on Saturday."

A while later, Mark got to meet Brian and also Hannah's brother, Patrick, who said the reason for his quick visit was to meet Mark, not because Mark was dating his sister, but because he knew Mark played on the US hockey team.

Everyone sat down to dinner around four and enjoyed conversation while eating. Hannah's parents were really good about making both Mark and Lexi feel welcome, and they didn't ask him anything about Lexi's mom, or anything else that would make him feel uncomfortable. Once everyone was finished eating, Mark offered to help Kathy clear the table.

"Mark, just sit down and relax, I got this," Kathy said. "Hannah and Lindsay will help if I need it."

"Well, dinner was really good, Kathy. Thank you so much," Mark said.

"Yes, thank you," Lexi chimed in. "I liked it."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Daddy said I might not like it and I should just pretend to, but I think it really is good." Mark, embarrassed again by his daughter, put his hand on his head, shaking it. Luckily, Kathy laughed.

"Well, I hope you like dessert too. Hannah made pumpkin pie."

"I love pumpkin pie. One time, I made chocolate chip cookies with Hannah before. They were really good. She said I was a good baker," Lexi said, proudly.

"I bet you are," said Kathy. A hour later, after the table was clear and everyone was getting ready for dessert, Kathy called Lexi into the kitchen.

"Want to make the whipped cream for the pie, Lexi?"

"Yeah!" Lexi helped by beating the whipped cream a little, and then she licked the beater.

"How is it?" Kathy asked, wondering if the whipped cream was ready.

"Really good," Lexi replied.

Later on, the adults sat around and talked while Lexi played with the dog some more. Now she wanted a dog of her own. Mark already knew that wasn't happening, even if a dog was allowed in the dorms. He didn't want to have to take care of it.

At nine, Mark could tell Lexi was getting really tired and he knew it was time to leave. He offered to drive Hannah home too, because she didn't have her car there. The main reason for the offer was because he wanted to spend some time with Hannah alone too, and that was hard with her parents right there.

Lexi fell asleep during the car ride, and when they got to Hannah's apartment, neither Mark nor Hannah were ready to end the night. After talking for ten minutes in the car, Mark made a comment that if Lexi were awake he would come up for a while.

"You could bring her up, and she could sleep in my bed while we're in the living room," Hannah suggested. Mark took Hannah up on that offer.

"So you think your parents like me enough?" Mark asked once he was walking back into the living room after putting Lexi in Hannah's room.

"Yeah, they love Lexi too. Everyone thinks she's adorable."

"And embarrassing," Mark added.

"But that's what so cute about kids. The things they say are so funny and they're so naïve. I'm glad you came today, Mark," Hannah said with a smile.

"Me too. I enjoyed dinner and meeting your family." For the next few minutes they were both quiet, and Hannah noticed that Mark had been quiet from the time they got in the car. And now, even though she knew he wanted to be there, he was just acting different.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I've just been thinking. I have a lot on my mind."

"Thinking about…?" Hannah trailed off. She sensed Mark was thinking about her, or Lexi, or something along those lines, and she wanted to know if something was bothering him.

Mark smiled, and with his arm wrapped around her, gave her a squeeze to reassure her before responding. "I was just thinking about what I'm thankful for. You, Lexi, my friends, my family…"

"With me and Lexi being the most important, right?" Hannah joked.

"Yeah," Mark said seriously. "You two are the most important." Mark paused for a minute, as if deciding what to say next. "I love you, Hannah."

Hannah looked at him, wondering if he meant it like that, or if it was a slip. "I love you too," she said, after realizing he really did mean to say it. Hannah closed the gap between them and kissed him.

When they finally pulled apart, Mark said, "It felt so good to say that."

"It was nice to hear it," Hannah said. "And I just want you to know that I love Lexi too. She's such a happy little girl, and she's fun to be around."

"I may be about to ruin our moment, but I'm going to tell you anyway… You know what Lexi asked me the other day? If you could be her mom. I never knew she knew the difference, not having Becky around, but I guess now that she's around other kids, she does realize."

"Well, I'm not surprised she asked that. Little kids always ask things like that when they have single parents. My mom warned me that Lexi might begin to think of me as a mom, and that I should be careful."

"Does that scare you?" Mark asked. He knew it scared him, but Hannah seemed completely fine, like it didn't bother her at all.

"Honestly… yeah. More than you know. And for a lot of reasons. Mainly because I don't want Lexi to get hurt. It's one thing if things don't work out for us, but it's so much harder with a four-year-old in the picture."

"I know," Mark said in agreement.

"And to think that Lexi thinks of me as a motherly figure is just, I don't know. It means a lot that she thinks I'm that great, but it puts even more pressure on me. But I love both of you." Hannah didn't want to say that she scared of just how much she loved both of them, because she didn't want to freak Mark out. It wasn't that she wanted to get married right then, or anything like that, but she just never felt so strongly about anyone before. She thought she was in love in her previous relationships, but compared to what she felt now, she knew it wasn't love before.

Mark and Hannah cuddled on the coach and watched TV for a little while, and later Mark noticed Hannah falling asleep. He wanted nothing more than to stay with her, and just sleep like that on the couch, but with Lexi there it just seemed like he should leave. He didn't want to raise too many questions.

"Hannah, I'm gonna get going. It's late, and I need to get Lexi home, and I'm sure you want to go to sleep too."

"Okay," Hannah said, sleepy sounding. They made tentative plans to do something the next day, and then Mark left.

* * *

On Monday morning, everything was back to normal after the long weekend. The guys all got back by Sunday night, and they had practice that morning. Lexi had school, so Mark dropped her off before practice.

"Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving?" Mac asked in the locker room before practice. Most of the guys responded that they did. "How were things with Hannah?" Mac asked just Mark while the other guys were all talking about their holiday weekend. That morning was the first time since before the holiday that the roommates saw each other. Mac wasn't really around during the weekend, and even though he got back Sunday night, it wasn't until late and after Mark was asleep.

"Good. Her family's great. I think they like us," Mark said, meaning him and Lexi. For the remainder of his weekend, Mark spent a lot of time with Hannah. They started Christmas shopping, and although Mark never began shopping until the week before Christmas, it was nice starting early. He was able to get Lexi a few things without her noticing, and he was getting really excited for Christmas. He couldn't wait for Lexi to open her presents on Christmas morning.

Later that week, Hannah and Mark were enjoying a night in Mark's room, relaxing, playing games with Lexi, and watching TV. Hannah and Mark were playfully flirting, when Mark began tickling Hannah. Hannah began pleading for Mark to stop.

"Stop, stop," she said, giggling.

Mark stopped but wrapped his arms around her so she couldn't squirm away. "Why?" he asked.

"Because."

"Ya know, it's funny because Lexi tells me the exact same thing."

"Daddy tickles me too. That means he loves you. He tickles people he loves."

"He does?" Hannah said. "Well I better tickle him back, because I love him too. But… I better get you first." Hannah began tickling Lexi, and when Lexi begged her to stop, she whispered something in Lexi's ear. Then, both of them went over to Mark and began tickling him.

A while later, when Mark put Lexi to bed, Lexi asked Hannah to tuck her in too.

"Why can't I stay up with you guys?" she asked.

"Because we need grown up time alone," Mark explained.

"Why?" Lexi asked.

"Because we're adults."

"Are you gonna kiss?"

"Not if you're awake. Now go to sleep."

After a few minutes of arguing, Lexi finally listened, and let Mark and Hannah leave while she stayed in bed.

"Good night Lexi. I love you," Mark said.

"I love you too, Daddy. And Hannah."

"I love you too," Hannah said. "Night, Lexi."

After Lexi fell asleep, Mark and Hannah got to enjoy some alone time.

* * *

Over the next two weeks, everyone was very busy. Christmas was quickly approaching, as were the Olympics. Being only two months away, practices were getting more intense, and they seemed to be having more games. Seeing so much of each other all the time was bringing them all closer though. One morning, while the guys were stretching and getting ready to begin practice, when Tim Harrer, a guy that some of the team knew from Minnesota, skated onto the ice.

"What's he doing here?" was the immediate question. No one was happy about his sudden unexpected presence, and the tension began building. Two nights later, Harrer played in their game and against everyone's wishes, did well. Mark was talking to Rizzo and Bah earlier, and they were both hoping that having Harrer there wouldn't work out. And to hear something like that from those two in particular was surprising. Although Mark was pretty certain his spot was safe, he didn't really want Harrer there either. Mark just didn't really want to see anyone go home.

Talking to Mac the night after Harrer showed up, it was both of their best guess that Rizzo would be the one Harrer was replacing. It wasn't that Rizzo was bad, but he didn't score very often, and they noticed that in recent weeks his playing time had been diminished.

That night, their game was away, and after the game, before getting on the bus, Mark, Mac, OC, and Rizzo decided to talk to Herb about the Harrer situation. At first, it didn't seem like they would get through to Herb. He was pretty set in his ways and ideas, and if Herb wanted Harrer there, there wouldn't be a lot anyone could do to change his mind.

"We're a family," Mark said, speaking up for everyone.

"And this is the family you want to go to Lake Placid with?"

All four guys spoke in resounding agreement, and that was what it took for Herb to promise to send Harrer home. He made sure they realized there would be one more cut, because they were currently at 21 men. Mark and everyone else still hated the thought of anyone leaving, but at least only one person was leaving as opposed to two.

* * *

The next week passed just as quickly as the previous two, and now it was a week before Christmas. The team only had one more practice before their short holiday break, because out of the four days that week, they had three games. On game days, Herb only made them skate for an hour in the morning. In the spirit of Christmas, Herb gave them Christmas and the day after off, and on Christmas Eve they had an optional practice. The team was having a party at Velta's on Christmas Eve, and right after that, Mark was going to Wisconsin to see his family. Hannah was going too, so she could be introduced as Mark's girlfriend. Mark suspected his family already knew that Hannah was more than a friend, so it was a mere formality to actually introduce her as his girlfriend. After they met at Lexi's birthday party, Mark insisted Hannah was just a friend. At the time, she was, but since then his mother kept asking about her. Once Mark told his parents he was bringing her home for Christmas, it was guaranteed they pretty much knew.

Monday morning, Mark brought Lexi to the rink while he skated because she didn't have school until after the holidays. They had a game at six that evening, and Lexi would be sitting with Hannah in the stands.

Lexi's new favorite thing was helping out in any way possible, so to keep her busy during practice, Craig told her to hand the guys their water bottles when they needed them. Mark felt bad because his feeling was that Lexi was being a handful, but on the bright side, she was practicing her numbers.

"What's your number?" Mark heard his daughter ask when Silky skated over to the bench.

"Eight."

"Here you go," Lexi said, and handed him the water.

"This isn't number eight," Silky said, teasing her. It really was his bottle.

"What number is it then?" Lexi asked.

"Don't confuse the kid, Silky," Jimmy spoke up, skating over to the bench. "That's eight Lexi. Silky's just giving you a hard time."

"I'm six," Baker said, wanting his water too.

Lexi handed him his water.

"Lexi, this isn't mine. This is Broten's."

"Baker, quit it. You're all going to have her really confused. She's trying to learn her numbers," Jimmy said.

"No, she really gave me Broten's. These sixes and nines look the same up upside down. Lexi hand me the six with the line under it," Baker told her.

After the water bottles were all put back, Lexi started counting them. Later on, Lexi came in the locker room after everyone was changed.

"Guess what, Daddy!"

"What sweetie?"

"I can count to fifteen without looking. I learned how this morning." Lexi then began counting. "One, three, five, six, eight, nine, ten, eleven, fifteen!"

A few of the guys that heard her, Mark included, gave her funny looks. Mark looked almost scared.

"I think you skipped a few, Lexi," Verchota said.

"I think she counting based on the order of our numbers," Rizzo said. "But only up to Wells' number."

"It sounds like someone has a lot of teaching to do," Silky commented, referring to Mark.

"He could hire Hannah as a tutor," Bah said.

"He could hire Hannah to teach a lot more than Lexi her numbers. She could teach Magic a few things too," Verchota said, making an attempt at some crude humor.

"Very funny boys," Mark replied.

That night, after the game, Mark and Lexi were in his room, watching some TV. A commercial for a kid's kitchen playset came on.

"Daddy, I want that!" she said.

"You say that to every commercial," Mark said. "You can't want everything."

"But I do want all of that," Lexi said.

"You do, huh?" Mark asked, tickling her. While they were having their tickle war, something they had a lot more often now, Mac came in.

"I'm so pissed right now!" he half yelled, throwing his bag down.

Mark and Lexi immediately stopped with their fun.

"Why?" Lexi asked.

"My parents are going away for Christmas. Without me! They're going to France on vacation."

"Why?" Lexi asked.

"Cool," Mark said. A trip to France sounded neat.

"No, not cool," Mac said. "They're going without me."

"I heard you the first time. And why is that a problem?"

Mac looked at Mark like he was crazy. "Because!"

"Because why?" Lexi asked. "Santa will still bring presents."

"Yeah, Mac. And you're a big boy. It's not like you even live at home."

"But I planned on spending Christmas with them. Now I'll be alone."

"What about your brother?"

"He's going to his girlfriend's house. In Nebraska."

"Oh," Mark said. "Come home with me then. I'm leaving late Christmas Eve, after Velta's party. Hannah's going too."

"Will your sister be there?"

"Yeah," Mark replied, wondering why that mattered.

"No thanks then. I'll stay here by myself."

"Come on, Mac. She doesn't hate you. And it's not like there won't be other people to talk to. Just come with me. My parents would be more than happy to have another person."

"Well…"

"Please come!" Lexi said.

"Fine. But only because you want me to, munchkin," Mac said, rubbing Lexi's head.

A/N: Hope everyone liked it. And again, the next chapter will be up Monday.


	19. Kissing Means Nothing Without Love

meadow567: Yeah, he did admitt it. He wass just a little reluctant I guess. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

NellieBly413672: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. This chapter's going to have the drama I've been promising, though it's not like, really, really huge drama or anything. But anyway, enjoy it.

A/N: Here's another chapter as promised. I hope everyone likes it and please review!! ) I'll be really happy if you do!

Two days before Christmas, Mark and Mac were in their room, wrapping Lexi's presents. Mac wasn't thrilled that he had been recruited for the evening, but he knew it beat babysitting for a few hours. Rizzo, Jimmy, Bah, and OC were keeping Lexi occupied.

After two hours, Mac offered to go pick up something to eat. It wasn't that they didn't have anything in their rooms, but Mac wanted, no needed a break.

Mac leaving didn't bother Mark, and he was on a roll until being interrupted by a knock at the door. He got up to answer it, hoping it wasn't one of the guys with Lexi. Mark had unwrapped presents all over. But he was very surprised to see the person standing in the hallway.

"Hi Mark."

"Becky!" Mark said, completely shocked, and not happy about her presence. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. And Lexi of course. I missed you guys."

"You missed us?" Mark said. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Mark yelled, just as Verchota walked by. Verchota gave Mark a looked asking who he was talking to, but just kept walking.

"Of course I'm not," Becky said softly, and if Mark didn't know any better, he would have believed her. "I missed you."

"It's been over three years. You've been gone three years, and now all of a sudden, you show up here, thinking you can just walk back into my life?" Mark asked, his blue eyes showing that he was completely livid. "Our life," he corrected, referring to Lexi as well.

"Well, what do you expect, Mark? I want to be with you," Becky said, moving close to Mark and attempting to wrap her arms around his neck. Mark pushed her away.

"You should have thought about all of that when you started doing drugs and drinking all the time with a baby. You should have thought about that before disappearing for three years. Before missing everything over the past three years," Mark yelled.

"I'm sorry," Becky said, almost in tears. "I was wrong to leave. But I'm here now."

"Well, it's too late."

"Mark, please," Becky said. Mark thought Becky was putting on quite the act.

"No. I don't know how you found me, but I want you to leave."

"I want to see my daughter," Becky said.

"You're unbelievable," Mark said, disgusted.

"I want to see her."

"You haven't cared about her at all since she was born."

"I'm her mother!" Becky yelled, now getting angry herself. Mark's glimpse of the old Becky and the nice act she was faking moments before vanished.

"Just because you gave birth to her doesn't make you her mother!" Mark said, in a nasty tone. Seeing the hurt look on Becky's face, he sort of regretted his words. Then he reminded himself that it was true, and he didn't feel quite as bad. Becky left them. She never really raised Lexi at all. Why she showed up then was beyond him.

"There's someone else, isn't there?" Becky asked.

"What?" Mark asked, pretending he had no idea what 'someone else' meant. Truthfully, Mark knew the someone else was Hannah.

"You fell in love with someone else, and you're trying to replace her as Lexi's mom!" Becky accused.

"No, that's not true. I'm not trying to replace you."

"But you admit you fell in love with another girl!"

"Why does it matter?" Mark asked.

"Because you loved me!"

"Past tense," Mark said. "How could I still love you? You ran off without even saying goodbye."

"Is there someone else?" Becky challenged, obviously wanting to hear Mark say it. Mark hesitated before responding.

"Yeah. Her name's Hannah and we've been dating a while now."

"I don't believe you!"

"Becky, please leave. I don't know why you're here, but I have things to get done." Mark tried to shut the door on her, but she pushed it to hold it open.

"I want to see my daughter."

"No," Mark said, simply.

"I want to see her!" Becky yelled. At this point, after hearing loud arguing for the past few minutes, OC came out of the room next door. Mark just hoped Lexi wouldn't come out with him. Glancing at OC, Mark knew he was alone.

"Becky, you're attracting attention. Please just leave."

"If you don't let me see her, I'll call the police."

"You're crazy. You have been gone three years. What makes you think the police will take your side?"

"Where is she?"

"Just because you're suddenly ready to be a mom, doesn't mean you can take Lexi. She's my daughter too. And she doesn't even know you. If you love her, you'll do what's best and leave."

"It's best that Lexi has a father and mother. She needs to see me."

Mark sighed. He wasn't getting though to his ex-girlfriend and he didn't know what else to say. Another thing he realized was that the drugs really did a number on her. Becky used to be pretty, with dirty blonde hair and blue-green eyes, and she was always happy, outgoing, and friendly. Now she had thin, damaged looking hair, her eyes had a glazed look in them. Mark even thought she may have been high right then. Becky was also acting crazy. Never had Mark ever seen her so angry and upset either. Her threats and the way she was yelling was unlike any moment he experienced with her previously.

"Okay, look Becky. Lexi's not here right now. One of the guys took her to a movie or something," Mark lied. "Why don't you stop by tomorrow, and we'll talk. You can see Lexi then." Mark really hoped that would get rid of her for the night. That way, he could at least ask have chance to think about what he was going to do.

"Fine. Tomorrow. But I better get to see my daughter."

"You will. And I promise we'll work something out." Mark faked a smile.

Becky smiled back. "Work something out between us?" she asked. Mark instantly wanted to eat his words. He really needed to learn to think before he spoke. The last thing he wanted to do was give Becky false hope. "I still love you, Mark," she said, and then turned to leave.

"Sucks to be you," OC said, walking by a minute later, having seen almost the whole thing.

"Yeah it does," Mark said quietly to himself.

Ten minutes later, while Mark was wrapping more gifts, trying not to think about Becky, Mac came back. Mark decided to ask for his advice on what he should do. He really didn't want Becky even seeing Lexi, but at this point, Mark was afraid Becky would try to get custody or something crazy like that.

Not only did Mark think Becky would make an awful mother, and that she was still doing drugs, but Mark loved having his daughter around. The sudden possibility of losing her was awful. Mac suggested that Mark at least talk to Becky. He thought if nothing more, Becky at least owed Mark an explanation for her leaving. Mac also pointed out that Lexi meeting her mom wouldn't be the worst thing, and that it would resolve any issues with Lexi not knowing who Becky was later.

That night after the presents were wrapped and Lexi came home, Mark spent extra time with her. Lexi sat on her dad's lap as he read her a few books, and then let her fall asleep on his lab watching TV. After he put Lexi in her bed, Mark watched Lexi sleep for a little while, thinking about how much it would kill him not to have her around. Over the past few months, Mark really grew to love having a daughter. If asked, he didn't think he could explain why. There was just something amazing about Lexi. She constantly looked up to him, depended on him, and Lexi was just fun to be around. Just by doing the little cute four-year-old things she did, Lexi could always make Mark smile. Mark still didn't completely agree with Hannah's thoughts that he was a great dad, but Mark was sure getting used to it being a dad.

The next day, Becky showed up as promised. She and Mark talked a while, and Mark was happy that she was a little calmer than the night before. Becky wasn't even upset that 'Mac' had taken Lexi out that morning and that she wouldn't be back until later. In reality, it was Hannah that took Lexi out and not Mac, but Mark didn't want Becky knowing that. Mark even began to think that maybe it wasn't so bad for Lexi to meet her mother.

Still, after talking to her, and with as normal as she seemed then, Mark was happy things didn't work out between them. He also not longer regretted the time they were together. After all, he got Lexi out of it. And now Mark was more than happy with Hannah. For a while, right after Becky left three years before, and again right after he met Hannah, Mark wished he could have just skipped over everything with Becky. He knew it would have made his relationship with Hannah easier. But now he realized that easy wasn't always the best way. The few arguments that he and Hannah had, with eventual making up seemed to have made their relationship stronger.

"Well, I better get going. But I still want to see my little girl soon."

"Okay," Mark said, thinking that wouldn't be likely because she would probably leave again, and even if she was going to Wisconsin, it wasn't like Mark was going back after the Olympics.

"I know you're going home for Christmas," Becky said. Mark had told her that earlier. "But maybe after you get back we'll all do something together."

"Will you still be here?"

"Well, yeah. I bought an apartment. I'm going to stay here until the Olympics are over." Mark had to stop his jaw from dropping in shock.

"Really?" he managed to get out.

"Yeah. Isn't that great?" she asked, excited.

Had Mark really given her those signals? If he had, he hadn't meant to.

"Yeah," Mark lied. "I'll walk you out to your car."

Mark walked Becky to her car and she stood outside of it for a minute, just looking at Mark.

"I'm so glad we talked, Mark. I really, really missed you. And I'm sorry for leaving."

Becky had explained earlier that she only left because she was overloaded taking care of Lexi and needed a break. Mark didn't want to cause trouble by making sarcastic comments like, 'A three year break?' or 'How were you overloaded? You never really took care of her in the first place,' but he really had to fight the urge. Mark didn't believe Becky's explanation for a second. That had been the third or fourth time she apologized for leaving, but Mark never told her it was okay, because it really wasn't. It was for the best that she left, but by no means was it totally fine.

When Mark didn't respond to her apology, Becky said, "I still love you, Mark. More than you could imagine."

_Why is she doing this?_ Mark wondered.

"Are you going to say something back?" Becky asked, with a flirty smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Did she honestly expect Mark to say it back?

"Becky…" Mark started, not wanting to make her upset, but not wanting to lead her on either. Mark was still actually a little scared of what she would do. After her threats the previous night, Mark didn't want her to follow through with calling the police. The last thing he wanted was for Becky to get custody or something. Seeing Lexi was one thing, but he wanted it to end at that.

"That's okay. You're not ready to say it back and I respect that. I just wanted you to know that I love you." Becky then leaned in and kissed him. At first, Mark was so surprised he didn't know what was going on. After his initial shock wore off, he pushed her away.

"Becky, I'm seeing someone. You can't just go kissing me," Mark told her harshly.

"I just wanted you to remember what it felt like," Becky replied, not making any attempt to move further away from Mark than she already was.

"You better go," Mark said sternly, not wanting to be around her anymore.

After Becky drove away, Mark went upstairs, knowing that Lexi would be home soon. He still couldn't believe she just kissed him like that. Mark remembered what it used to be like kissing Becky... running his fingers through her hair, the taste of her lips, the smell of her skin... Mark loved everything about her. But now, Hannah completely replaced Becky in Mark's life. Hannah was the only one Mark wanted to kiss, the only one Mark wanted to teach his daughter to bake and take shopping, the only person Mark felt was good enough for them. When Becky kissed him, Mark felt nothing. He always imagined he'd still feel a little spark, or something, from what him and Becky used to have. After all she was the mother of his child. But even though she gave birth to Lexi, he didn't feel a thing for her. Mark felt it was almost sad in a way. How could the person he used to love more than anything have become such a bitter part of his past?

When he got upstairs, Lexi was already back, and he pushed the bitter thoughts of his ex-girlfriend away. After all, Becky did give Mark Lexi. His daughter was in the hall with Bah and OC, and Mark was surprised Hannah wasn't there. He thought they could all have dinner together or something.

"Where's Hannah?"

"She said she had to go. She left pretty quickly too. It almost looked like something was wrong," Bah said.

"Oh my God. I hope she didn't…" Mark trailed off, thinking that there was a possibility Hannah saw him and Becky in the parking lot.

"Were you outside, daddy?" Lexi asked.

"Why? Did you see me?" Mark asked, panic creeping into his voice.

"I said I did, but Hannah didn't think it was. Then you weren't home, so Hannah thought you must be outside." Normally Mark thought it was really cute that Lexi called the dorm room their home, and not the room like everyone else. He didn't smile this time though. He was too worried about what Hannah saw downstairs.

"Was I alone?"

"No, a lady was there."

"Shit," Mark said, addressing the guys.

"Daddy, you said a bad word."

"Not now, Lexi," Mark said. "Hannah must have seen me kiss Becky."

"You did what?!" OC said. "Even I'm smarter than that," he said, in an attempt to joke around. Mark didn't find his comment humorous at all.

"You kissed her? Why?" Bah asked.

"Who?" Lexi asked.

"Well, actually she kissed me. It took me a couple seconds by the time I realized what was happening and pushed her away though. If Hannah caught me at the wrong time…"

"Magic, don't worry. I'm sure if you talk to her and explain what happened she'll understand."

"If she lets me explain," Mark said.

Mark didn't waste any time, and instead of calling Hannah, he drove over to her apartment, ran upstairs, and knocked on the door.

"Hannah, it's me," Mark said.

"Me who?" she asked, joking, before opening the door. Mark thought it was sort of weird she was joking if she was upset. Mark walked right in as soon as he opened the door.

"Hannah, I am so sorry. I can explain everything. I was talking to Becky, and the next thing I knew, she kissed me. I swear on my life that I didn't see it coming. I didn't even realize what happened at first. By the time I did, I pulled away. Hannah, I'm really sorry. I know you're probably mad, but I swear I didn't initiate the kissing." Mark spilled everything, talking so fast that when he finished he was out of breath.

"Okay?" Hannah said almost as a question. She looked a little confused.

"Please forgive me," Mark said, not noticing her confused expression.

Then Hannah laughed a little. "I guess you really wanted to practice being completely honest, huh?" Hannah asked. Mark didn't understand where she was going with that. "So, what did you really drive over here for?"

"To tell you," Mark said.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I knew you must have gotten the wrong impression, and I wanted to clear things up right away."

"The wrong impression?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah. When you saw us in the parking lot."

Now Hannah laughed again. "Mark, I never saw you kiss her. Or her kissing you. Whatever."

"You didn't?"

"No." Hannah noticed Mark looked relieved, but felt stupid. "If you knew that, you probably wouldn't have driven over here to tell me, would you?"

"Honestly… no. I thought you saw us. The guys said you left fast, like something was wrong, and Lexi said you two saw us in the parking lot."

"Well, I did see you and Becky from sort of far away. I didn't realize who it was, but I didn't see the kiss. I saw you two talking. And I left fast because I was supposed to meet my sister somewhere and I was late. I came home to call her and let her know, and we decided to meet later instead, so I'm here still."

"Wow, I feel stupid," Mark said, sheepishly.

"Well, the way I see it, you didn't come over for nothing," Hannah said, wrapping her arms around Mark's shoulders and pulling him closer.

"I guess not," Mark said, leaning in to kiss her. This kiss was filled with everything he loved about kissing - the taste of her tongue, the feeling of running his fingers through her hair, her smell - everything. They kissed passionately and when they pulled apart a minute later, Hannah was breathless.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked.

"Why?" Mark wondered.

"That was probably the most amazing kiss ever!" she said happily.

"I guess I wanted to show you how much I love you," Mark said smiling back at his girlfriend.

* * *

Later that night, Mark was in his room along with his daughter, and a handful of the team. He was telling them the story what happened earlier at Hannah's. They all thought it was amusing. After the guys left, and just Mark and Mac were there, Mark began asking Mac for advice.

"I know Becky wants to get back together. Or she wants something. I just don't know what to do. I can't keep Lexi away from her, but I don't want her trying to get custody or anything. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't even want Becky to have visitation."

"You're not being selfish, you're being reasonable. If Becky's still doing drugs and whatever, she can't be around Lexi. Plus, you've been caring for Lexi her whole life. Becky can't expect to walk in and be a mom again."

"I know. I just don't know how to stop Becky, or get her to leave. I want her to go running for the hills again."

"Maybe there's a way," Mac said. From his expression, Mark could tell Mac had some master plan. Whether it was a good plan or not was another story.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed. The next chapter will be Christmas, and it's going to be a long one. I'm hoping to post it next weekend, but I'm not making any promises.


	20. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

NellieBly413672: Glad you liked the last chapter. Becky doesn't make an appearance in this chapter at all, but she will be back. This is all Christmas, so there can't be too much drama, it's mostly fluff. (Well, I guess there's a little drama.) Hope you enjoy and thanks again for the review!

meadow567: Lol, thanks for the review. No Becky in this one, but she'll cause trouble again, I assure you. This one's basically just Christmas fun and fluff. Enjoy!

A/N: Here's the Christmas chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it and please review whether you enjoy it or not!! :) Getting reviews will make me happy either way.

The next day was Christmas Eve, and everyone seemed to be excited, especially Lexi. After all the last minute preparations were finished, including Mark getting himself and Lexi packed for their few days away, they were ready to go to Velta's for the Christmas party.

Most of the guys ended up showing up at the same time. Jimmy was dressed as Santa and brought in the big bag of gag gifts for the team and the coaches. They guys got Lexi a little something too.

"Jimmy, why are you dressed as Santa Claus?" Lexi asked. Then, she looked excited and asked, "Are you one of Santa's helpers?"

"I just might be. But I've been sworn to secrecy," Jimmy said and winked at Lexi.

Lexi's eyes lit up. "You are one of his helpers!" She ran off to find Mark, who was in the kitchen at the time. "Daddy, daddy, guess what?" she began.

In the meantime, the guys were sitting in the living room, talking and beginning to open their gifts. Some of the things the guys got were pretty interesting, and most were related to inside jokes that only a handful of the guys knew.

Mark began opening his gift, hoping it wasn't too embarrassing. He was surprised to find a box of condoms. He immediately turned red, and many of the guys laughed or whistled. Mark then made a funny comment to take to the focus off of his embarrassment.

"Oh, thanks. Compared to some of the others, at least my gift is practical." The guys laughed again and OC spoke up.

"Well, this way, you won't have to worry when you and Hannah finally…" OC said, trailing off and laughing. "Because I know you two haven't yet. And you wouldn't necessarily want another Lexi yet." Even though OC was only assuming Mark and Hannah hadn't been together, he had been right. Mark's face turned slightly red again.

"Thanks guys," he managed to get out.

"Daddy, what did you get?" Lexi asked.

"Nothing, sweetie. Why don't you open your gift?" Mark suggested, not wanting to give any elaboration on his present.

When Jimmy handed Lexi her present, Lexi tore off the paper quickly.

"I get to be like you guys!" Lexi said, holding up a USA jersey. On the back it said Munchkin, and her number was '00'.

After the last gifts were open, the guys went outside to play some football. Lexi went outside too, but uninterested in football, she played in the snow, and tried to build a snowman. When it was almost time for Mark, Lexi, and Mac to leave, they went inside to say good-byeto Velta, Doc, and Craig, and on their way out, the guys.

"Merry Christmas everyone. See you guys in a couple days," Mark said.

"Bye," Lexi added. Then she tugged on the bottom of Jimmy's red Santa coat. "Jimmy, make sure you tell Santa where I am tonight. I'm going to my gramma's. In Madison. Okay? Make sure he knows," she said with firmly, shaking her finger.

"I will Lexi," Jimmy told her. "Have a nice Christmas you guys," he told all three of them.

"Are you picking up Hannah?" Bah asked.

"Yeah, on our way to the airport. Our flight takes off at eleven. It's the last flight out tonight," Mark replied.

A resounding chorus of "Merry Christmas," came from throughout the room and Mark, Mac, and Lexi were on their way.

An hour after taking off, the four landed in Madison. It was a few minutes after midnight, so it was technically already Christmas. Mark's Dad came to pick everyone up.

"Grampa!" Lexi shouted as she saw Mark's dad.

"Hi, Lex," he said, picking the little girl up and hugging her. "Merry Christmas guys," he said to everyone.

"Hi Mr. Johnson," both Mac and Hannah said.

"Please call me Bob. I hate Mr. Johnson. Even 'Coach' is better. I still make Mark call me coach occasionally," he said with a smile, referring to the fact that he was Mark's coach in college.

After everyone piled in the car, and after Lexi was done monopolizing the conversation, Bob cut in and asked about Hannah and Mark. Subtly of course.

"So Mac, how are things?"

"Oh, pretty good. Thank you so much for letting me spend Christmas here."

"The more the merrier. I was so glad Mark invited you too, Hannah. How have you been?"

"I've been good," Hannah answered.

"Did your family ditch you for a European vacation too?" Bob asked.

"No, Dad," Mark answered for Hannah. "I asked her to spend Christmas with me and Lexi."

It was obvious Bob didn't want to come right out and ask if Mark and Hannah were dating, but everyone in the car knew he wanted too. Mark was being stubborn and not admitting it though. He wanted to see how long it would take his dad to ask.

Finally, Mac mentioned it himself. "Okay, this is awkward… Mark and Hannah are dating. They have been since right after Lexi's birthday. There. Now it's been said and everyone knows." Everyone laughed a little at Mac's comment, all were glad that was out in the open.

By the time they arrived at Mark's parent's house, everyone was extremely tired, and Lexi was sleeping. Mark grabbed Hannah's bag from the trunk and followed his dad, who was carrying Lexi, inside, and with Hannah and Mac following behind Mark.

"I'll put Lexi in her room," Bob began. Lexi had her own room in the Johnson house, and although she had been with Mark the past few months, they kept her room set up. "Your mom and Kelly are already sleeping," Bob continued. "Mark, you can show Mac upstairs to the guest room. Hannah can stay with you. Assuming you want to sleep in the same room that is. Just don't tell your mother. You know how she is."

Mark nodded. He wasn't surprised his father was letting him and Hannah stay in the same room. After all, he already had a daughter. Mark knew his mom was still naïve to that though. Although she knew Mark obviously had sex before, she still wouldn't want anything going on in her house. Not that it would anyway. Mark would never think of trying anything with a girl in his parent's house, no matter what the circumstances were. He thought that would just be wrong.

A little while later, after Mark and Hannah helped his father set Lexi's gifts up under the tree, Mark and Hannah were cuddled in Mark's bed.

"This is nice," Hannah said, comfortably in Mark's arms.

"Yeah. Definitely something I could get used to," Mark said, kissing the top of her head.

"Don't get too used to it. It might be weird telling Lexi why we're having 'sleepovers' all the time."

"Yeah. That's one thing I'd rather not explain," Mark said. Mark and Hannah spent the next few minutes talking, and then went to sleep.

"Goodnight Hannah," Mark said, just as she was falling asleep.

"Night, Mark," Hannah replied.

* * *

The next morning, Mark and Hannah woke up to loud footsteps running up and down the hallway, and a very excited Lexi screaming "It's Christmas! Everybody wake up!"

"Merry Christmas," Hannah said, smiling up at Mark.

"Merry Christmas to you too," Mark replied. "We better get up before Lexi comes in to get us."

They both climbed out of bed and a minute later they were ready to go downstairs. Lexi was already downstairs, looking at all the presents under the tree.

As soon as Hannah and Mark got downstairs, Lexi saw her new big girl bike with training wheels in the corner behind the rest of the presents.

"Daddy! It's a pink bike! I know it's for me!"

"Wow, look at that. Santa really knows what you wanted," Mark said, pretending to be surprised.

"There's so many with my name on," she said, excited, looking over the packages. "Can I start opening them?"

"Why don't you wait for everyone else to come downstairs first," Mark told her. "And let's go say hi to grandma." Mark knew his mom was in the kitchen getting breakfast ready. Every Christmas, she made delicious sweet rolls, and he knew this year was no different.

"I already did," Lexi told him.

"Well, I haven't yet. Go wake Mac up," he told her next.

While Mark and Hannah went to say good morning to Mark's mom, Lexi ran upstairs and into the guest room. She jumped on the bed.

"Mac, wake up! Daddy said it's time to open presents!"

"Okay, okay. I'm up," Mac said, as Lexi was pulling on his arms. Luckily he was dressed. Most of the time he just wore boxers to bed, but last night he wore a t-shirt and gym shorts. Walking into the hall, Mac immediately saw his least favorite person.

"Morning, Kelly," Mac said, wishing she wasn't the first person he had to see that morning.

"Hi Mac," she replied. "Merry Christmas." For once, there was no negative undertone to her voice, or sarcastic comment out of her mouth.

"Wow, that was refreshing. It actually sounded nice and like you meant it," Mac said, being completely honest.

"Well, for one, it's Christmas. I should be nice today. And for two, it's too early to think of anything nasty to say," she added with a smug grin.

"Are you going downstairs?" Mac asked her.

"Yeah." Now Lexi started telling them about how many presents she counted for herself already.

Meanwhile, Mark was in the living room with Bob and Hannah was in the kitchen with Mark's mom.

"I just want to thank you so much for having me Mrs. Johnson," Hannah said, while helping her with the sweet rolls.

"Please, Hannah. Call me Ali," she said. Her name was actually Alexandra, but she always went by Ali. "And it's so nice to have you here. I know you mean a lot to Mark. Ever since Lexi was born, he practically swore off all girls. I think it's because he wanted to put Lexi first, even though he wasn't around all that much. I'm glad he found someone that understands how important Lexi is though," Ali said with a smile.

"Well, Lexi's a great little girl. I love her just as much as Mark," Hannah then, then realized that Ali didn't even officially know they were dating yet. Hannah hoped she wouldn't pick up on the comment, and if she did, wouldn't over react.

A wide smile stretched across Ali's face then, and Hannah knew she was safe. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. I just knew you two were dating. Ever since Lexi's party, I had the feeling that there was something going on between you two. I knew from the way you both looked at each other."

Hannah decided not to correct Ali and tell her they weren't technically dating then. She just smiled in reply.

"Hurry up gramma!" Lexi shouted from the living room. She wanted to open her presents.

Lexi ended up getting so many toys and presents. Mark didn't know what he was going to do with everything. Not everything was from Santa though. Mark's parents and sister bought Lexi a lot, 

and Mac and Hannah each got her a few things too. It didn't matter to Lexi what the tag said though, because she didn't even look at them. If the package said 'To Lexi' she opened it.

Lexi got so many presents, mostly toys. She got Play-Doh, a Barbie Dream House, a Lite Brite, Mr. Potato Head, some more play food to go with the play kitchen set she got for her birthday, Little People and the Little People house, and a Baby Alive doll. Her favorite presents were her new bike, new crayons, and hockey equipment, which were all from Mark, or Santa.

"Good, I need new crayons," Lexi said. "My old ones were crappy."

"Lexi! That's not nice," Mark commented about her language.

"Well they were," she said.

When Lexi opened the hockey skates and small hockey stick, she was very excited.

"Now I really can be like you Daddy!" Lexi said after opening her hockey stick and ice skates.

"Yeah. When we get back to Minnesota I'm going to teach you how to skate," Mark told her. Ever since Mark bought the ice skates, he couldn't wait to teach Lexi. He knew she would love it.

After Lexi finished opening her presents, it was everyone else's turn. Lexi wanted to get to her new bike, but there were still too many gifts in front of it.

"I really want my bike. You guys should hurry up and open," she said.

"Lexi, how do you know it's your bike?" Mac asked. "Is your name on it?" Lexi shook her head. "Well, I asked Santa for a pink bike too. That might be mine," he teased her.

"No, it's not yours," Lexi said, laughing. "Pink is a girl color. And you're too big for that bike," she told him.

While the adults were opening their gifts, Lexi was kept occupied by her new toys, and the rest of the gifts were exchanged. Hannah handed Mark two wrapped boxes.

"The first is sort of for Mac too. You guys can share it until the Olympics are over," Hannah explained.

Inside was an Atari Video Game System.

"Thanks, Hannah,' both guys said. A few weeks before Christmas, Hannah heard them talking about how much they wanted one. Next, Mark opened the smaller box, and this was the gift Hannah was a little nervous about giving him. It was a dog tag type chain engraved with both Lexi's and Hannah's initials. She wasn't sure how he'd react, because it was a present indicating a long term relationship for Hannah and him, not something that would end after the Olympics were over.

Mark's reaction, a cross between being really happy, and almost relieved, comforted Hannah.

"I love it Hannah. Now the two most important women in my life will always be with me." Mark's words were exactly what Hannah was thinking when she thought of the gift. She wanted to include Lexi's initials mainly because she wanted to show him that she loved Lexi too and that they were almost like a little family, but not in the literal sense. "I have your gift too," Mark said, handing Hannah a small box. Hannah didn't know it, but Mark was just as nervous about giving Hannah her present, for a reason similar to Hannah's being nervous about giving Mark his gift.

Hannah gasped when she saw it. It was a beautiful gold locket necklace, with small flowers and diamonds on the outside. When Hannah opened the locket, she saw it was engraved with his and her initials, and the day they met.

"Mark, I love this," Hannah said sincerely, after a moment of speechlessness. "It's amazing." She couldn't really find better words to describe how she felt. It looked so expensive though. Hannah really didn't know how he could have afforded it.

Mark helped Hannah put the necklace on. "It's looks good on you," he said.

"I have something for you too," Lexi said, walking up to Hannah with a gift.

The gift from Lexi was a cookbook. "Thank you Lexi," Hannah said.

"Now I can help you bake those things too," Lexi said.

After everyone eventually gave and received all of the gifts, with even Mac giving Kelly a little something, they were ready for breakfast. It was actually more like brunch because it was already 11:30. Although they got up at 7:30, opening gifts took over three hours.

During breakfast, Mark's mom suddenly stopped eating and looked over at Mark with wide eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"Did you go to Christmas Mass?" she asked, sounding very concerned. Mark thought it was a little funny that no matter how old he was, and whether he lived at home or not, his mother would always act like a mother and treat him like he was a child.

"Yes, Mom," he said with a sigh.

"Are you sure?" she asked, with a look of disapproval, like she thought he was lying.

"Yeah. Ask Lexi if you don't believe me."

"We went to church," Lexi said. "Mac, OC, Jimmy, and Rizzo went too."

"Yeah, we all went together last night. Before the party at Velta's," Mac said.

"Okay, good. I wouldn't have wanted you to miss Mass. We went last night too," Ali said, speaking for herself, Bob, and Kelly.

* * *

After brunch, everyone took showers and got dressed, and while waiting their turns for showers, they helped Lexi open her new toys. Later in the afternoon, Hannah helped Ali with dinner, Bob went outside to shovel the little snow they got the night before, and Mac, Mark, and Kelly hung out in the living room with Lexi. When Mark was called out to the kitchen, Mac and Kelly were left alone with Lexi in the living room. At this point, Kelly was looking through a book she got, and Mac had taken over Mark's place at playing with the Little People Fisher Price set with Lexi.

"Here, Mac," Lexi said, handing him one of the people. "You be this one."

"Okay," Mac said, taking it, but a little unsure. He didn't really know what he was supposed to do with it. He decided to just do whatever Lexi did.

"That's the daddy," Lexi told him.

"Oh, so this is a family?"

"Yeah. You have the daddy, and I have the baby and little kid."

"Is that the mom?" Mac asked, pointing to another character.

"There is no mommy," Lexi said. "That's the daddy's girl friend."

"Oh," Mac said, laughing slightly at the comparisons in the fake family to Lexi's real life. Mac glanced at Kelly, who looked up from her book and smiled, having heard Lexi.

After playing with Lexi for a few minutes, Kelly made her first comment to Mac since the 'thank you' for her gift earlier.

"You're pretty good with her."

"Oh," Mac said, sounding surprised. It was weird hearing something nice from Kelly. "Thanks."

"I don't mean I think you should have a kid anytime soon, but you're not as… awkward as you originally were with her."

Now Mac wasn't sure whether Kelly's comment was a compliment or not, but he knew one thing for sure. He wanted Mark to come back into the room. Being alone with Kelly was too awkward.

Luckily, Mac got his wish. A minute later, Mark came back in, now with Hannah.

The rest of the afternoon everyone spent enjoying Christmas and spending time together. At five, they all sat down to enjoy dinner, and then they enjoyed the rest of the evening too, mostly spent hanging out, talking, and playing with Lexi. At one point, Mark even took Lexi outside to try out her new bike. She couldn't ride far because of the snow, but Mark was afraid that if he refused to let her try the bike, a tantrum may follow. She had been really adamant all day about trying her bike later.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Mac woke up, and after a half hour, he debated getting up. He really couldn't sleep, and normally he wouldn't hesitate getting up, but since it wasn't his house, he wasn't too quick to venture around until he felt like sleeping. After another half hour of tossing and turning, he decided to go downstairs.

When he reached the kitchen, he was surprised he wasn't the only one awake. Kelly was up too, sitting at the kitchen counter. Just as Mac turned around to head back upstairs quietly without her seeing him, she stopped him.

"Want some hot chocolate?" she asked. "I just made it, the water's still boiling."

Mac shrugged. "Sure, thanks."

He took a seat next to Kelly as she poured some water and a packet of hot chocolate powder into a mug for Mac.

"So, what's keeping you up?" she asked.

"I don't know. I guess I have a lot on my mind," Mac said.

"It's okay, you can admit it. The bed in the guest room isn't that comfortable."

Mac laughed a little. "No, it's fine. I just wasn't really tired and I was thinking a lot. How about you? Why couldn't you sleep?"

"I don't know actually. Usually it's Christmas Eve that I can't sleep. Even when I was younger, I was always up almost all night on Christmas Eve. But this year it's weird. Last night, I slept fine, but tonight I can't sleep at all."

Mac nodded in understandment.

"I still want to know how you knew I had a charm bracelet. And how you knew my birthday is in August, and that I love angels," Kelly said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. Mac had gotten her an angel charm with her birthstone for her present. It took Mac a while to find something for her too. He felt he should get her a little something, because after all, he was spending Christmas with Mark's family. Mac got Mark's parents something small too.

"Well, I actually saw charms in the store and thought of you. I remembered you had a charm bracelet on last time I saw you, and I figured you might like one. Mark told me your birthday was in August, so I picked the August birthstone. I just happened to get the angel one though. I had no idea you love angels."

"Well, thank you again. I do love it," Kelly said.

"I was actually going to get you a crown, because you're usually a royal bitch, but I figured you appreciate the angel more."

"Haha, very funny," Kelly said, smiling.

A few minutes later, both Kelly and Mac were done with the hot chocolate and they were just sitting at the counter, looking out the window into the backyard. It was strange, because it was almost a comfortable silence.

"Hey, it's starting to snow!" Kelly said. "Want to go outside?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Why, so you can throw snowballs at me or something," Mac joked.

"Now that you mention it…"

"You're on!" Mac said. They ran outside and immediately began their snowball fight. After ten minutes, they were both soaked and freezing, but laughing. Neither had gloves, hats, or even jackets on.

"I think we should call it a draw," Mac said.

"You quitting on me, Mac?"

"Why do you always call me Mac? Why don't you ever call me Robbie?" he asked.

"Because, when we met, you introduced yourself as Mac."

"Oh," Mac said, having not remembered that.

"So, are you quitting on me?" Kelly asked.

"No, but it's cold and we're both soaked. We'll get sick."

"Oh, please. Like you care whether I get sick."

"I just don't want to get blamed if you do," Mac said.

"All right, let's go in," Kelly said. They got to the back porch and for some reason, they both looked up at the same time. It must have been a sixth sense of some sort, because at the same time, they realized mistletoe was hanging above them.

It seemed like minutes or hours instead of seconds they were standing there. Mac wasn't going to initiate any kissing. Although Kelly wasn't as mean to him anymore, he still didn't think they were good enough friends to kiss. If they were friends for that matter. Even if it was a kiss under mistletoe.

As those thoughts were going through Mac's head, for some reason he still found himself leaning towards Kelly and Kelly leaning toward him. Their kiss lasted a few seconds before they broke apart.

"It seems like you're done being mean to me," Mac said quietly.

"I have to be nice, it's Christmas," Kelly replied.

"But it's after midnight. It's not Christmas anymore," Mac reminded her.

Then, Kelly shoved him. "Fine. You want me to be mean. I'll be mean," she said, and turned away, walking inside, letting the storm door slam shut on a stunned Mac.

_What in the world was that all about?_ Mac thought, going inside himself a few seconds later.

Although both Kelly and Mac went to their respective rooms after that, neither fell asleep. Now they had even more trouble sleeping, each thinking about the person in the next room. Mac was clueless as to why Kelly acted the way she did. He just assumed he didn't understand women. Mac really did enjoy that few second kiss though.

Kelly was thinking about the same thing. She hated Mac. Why in the world did she flirt with him? And then _kiss_ him?Then she began wondering if she really hated him as much as she thought. Maybe there wasn't all that much to hate about him after all. Not that anything would ever happen between them anyway. Mac was Mark's roommate and friend. That would just be weird.

* * *

The next morning, Kelly and Mac were not surprisingly the last two up. Everyone was eating breakfast when Kelly came downstairs last, and it was obviously that she wasn't in the best of moods. Everyone had picked up on it, but Mark was the only one brave enough to mention it.

"Hey Grumpy, pass the milk."

Kelly knew Mark was talking to her and looked up, giving him an evil stare. She passed the milk though.

"Thanks, Grumpy," Mark said.

"Why don't you shut the hell up?" Kelly more commanded than asked.

"Wow. Someone's not happy about something."

After making another rude comment to antagonize her, Mark asked out loud why he was the only one making nasty remarks.

"Normally it Kelly and Mac that go at each other with the comments," he said. Mac didn't realize that Mark wanted a response. "Mac?" he said, trying to get his attention.

"Whatever. Sometimes people aren't in good moods," Mac replied, poking at his breakfast. For one of the first times in his life, he wasn't hungry. He had too many other things on his mind. Before Mark could comment, Mac stood up and announced he was going to shower.

Mark glanced over at Hannah, wondering if she was picking up on the vibe that he was. Mark had a feeling something was going on. Kelly and Mac always argued. On Christmas they didn't, but that was an exception. But now, especially since Kelly was in a bad mood, Mark was surprised that she wasn't being nasty and sarcastic to Mac.

* * *

A while later, everyone was doing there own thing. Mark's mom went out to get the day after Christmas shopping deals, and she dragged Mark's dad with her. Lexi went with them too, and Hannah and Mark were hanging out alone. They enjoyed some time without Lexi being around, and then went out to get a bite to eat. They would have had leftovers, but they really wanted to get out of the house. Although invited, neither Kelly nor Mac wanted to join them.

Then, mid afternoon, Kelly and Mac were the only ones home. Kelly thought Mac had left with Mark and Hannah, and Mac thought the same of Kelly. All morning, both had avoided each other at all costs, but the house wasn't big enough to keep avoiding each other, and they didn't.

Mac walked upstairs after lunch and literally bumped into Kelly who was walking down the hall.

"Watch it!" Kelly said.

"Sorry," Mac apologized.

"You should be."

Mac debated following her, and finally decided to. She walked into the bathroom and just before she closed the door, Mac stuck his hand in to keep it open.

"What are you doing?" Kelly asked.

"What's going on?" Mac asked, referring to the way she was acting, but she interpreted it differently.

"Well, for one, you're being rude. I'm trying to go to the bathroom."

"I meant about last night."

"It was nothing. Mistletoe, that's it."

"So you felt nothing?" Mac asked, hoping she wasn't seriously. After thinking about the kiss for so long, he realized that he felt something.

"No. Now leave me alone," Kelly yelled.

Mac decided to do just that. If Kelly didn't want to talk and didn't think there was, or ever would be, anything between them, there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Nonetheless, Mac patiently waited for Kelly to come out of the bathroom. He wasn't finished talking to her yet.

"Why don't you like me?" he asked once she opened the door.

"Were you waiting out here for me?" Kelly asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes. Again, why don't you like me?" Mac asked again.

"Let's see…" Kelly began, pretending she had to think. Then she began rattling things off quickly. "You're a jerk, you're immature, you're my brother's roommate, you're conceited…" Kelly trailed off the added, "Did I mention you're immature?"

"Maybe I come across as an immature, self-absorbed, jerk, that shares a room with Mark, but I'm not all that bad."

"Look, Mac… I just… you're not my type. And since when do you like me?" Kelly asked.

"How can I be 'not your type' if you barely know me?" Mac asked, not answering her question. "You only know me from the few times you've been in Minnesota."

Kelly didn't answer his question either, and instead elaborate don hers. "And you can't tell me that you like me either. Every time I've been in Minnesota you haven't exactly acted like you were looking forward to seeing me."

"Yeah, that's true. I didn't like you. I thought you were a complete bitch. You're nasty, bitchy, and I have no idea how you're related to anyone in your family, because you're so rude and unlike them, but the past few days, I've seen the nice side of you and I liked that."

"And then you had to ruin the moment by commenting on it," Kelly shot back.

"So now you're going to be mean to again?" Mac asked.

"Yeah. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"I never said that. But look who's being mature now!"  
At that instant, both Kelly and Mac realized they were both being quite immature. They began laughing.

"Wow, what are we, five?" Kelly asked.

"I guess we're both acting childish," Mac added.

"How about we call a truce?" Kelly asked.

"Does that mean we'll be nice to each other?" Mac asked.

"Well, you know," Kelly said, shrugging. "We don't have to be best friends, but let's try to be civil."

"Okay, truce then," Mac said. They heard the front door open and Mark and Hannah walked through the door, talking to each other.

Mac and Kelly just stood in the hallway, almost like they were going to be caught doing something they shouldn't, but they hadn't been doing anything but standing there.

"Hello?" Mark said, calling to anyone who might be there.

"Hi," both Kelly and Mac said at the same time, almost making things more awkward.

"What are you guys doing upstairs?" Mark asked, thinking it was weird they were standing in the hallway. Mark and Hannah couldn't see them, but they could tell the two were in the hall because of the way their voices were carrying.

"Nothing," both responded again.

"O-kay," Mark said, leaving it at that. He glanced at Hannah. They both knew something weird was going on.

* * *

Later that evening, Mark, Mac, Hannah, and Lexi had to get ready to go back to Minnesota. They guys started practice again the next morning. Mark's parents, and Kelly, went to drop them off at the airport. After the goodbyes and thank yous, the four were on their way. Since Lexi sat with Hannah on the plane ride, Mark got to talk to Mac.

"What's going on between you and my sister?" Mark wondered.

"Nothing." Mac answered. "Why do you think something's going on? Does it seem like there is? Because nothing's going on."

"Okay," Mark said. "Now I'm even more suspicious."

"Well, nothing's going on. We talked, and that's about it. I think we're just at a point now where we understand each other and can tolerate one another."

"Oh," Mark said, not sure whether to buy it. "Okay. You both have been acting really weird lately."

"Fine," Mac said. "The other night we caught each other under the mistletoe. In a second of complete insanity, we kissed. It lasted like a second, and meant absolutely nothing." Although Mac still wasn't convinced the kiss meant nothing, he figured it was safest to play it that way to Mark.

"Oh, now I get why things were so weird," was Mark's response.

"You're not mad, right?" Mac asked.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because I kissed your sister."

"Honestly, I don't care who Kelly kisses. I don't care who she dates, who she's kissing, who she's… well, you get the picture," Mark said, not wanting to elaborate on that. "Point is, Kelly's a big girl. She's capable of handling whatever herself. She doesn't need me telling her who she should and who she shouldn't date."

"Normally big brothers are so protective," Mac said.

"Yeah. Not me though. I think I've told you this before, but I'm not really the protective older brother type. Sometimes I think she's more of the brother in our relationship. Besides, Kelly has a mind 

of her own. She wouldn't listen to if I tried to tell her not to do something. In fact, she'd do that very thing just to spite me."

"Okay, whatever. As long as you don't care, it's all good," Mac said. He still wondered if Mark would have the same relaxed attitude if Mac was dating Kelly though. _Wait a minute, _Mac thought. _What the hell am I thinking? Dating Kelly? Yeah, right._


	21. Happy New Year

NellieBly413672: Glad you liked it and thanks for the review! It's funny because for a while I wasn't sure myself if and who Kelly would end up with, but I always came back to the Mac idea. I'm not saying they'll definitely end up together though... and I'm not even sure I totally know for sure myself, lol. Enjoy the chapter!

meadow567: Thanks for the review and your insight! ) I won't make any promises, but I think you'll be happy with the way I think things play out. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

A/N: Here's another chapter, sorry it took so long to post. School's been so busy. Whenever I think I'll have time to write, I end up having some more work to do. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys and please review!!

The guys made it through the week after Christmas, all having loved their few days off. The majority of guys went home, and they all liked spending a little time with their families. That week, they had two games, and they ended up winning the first and tying the second. By the end of the week, the guys were glad for another day off. They needed the break. With the Olympics in less than two months, they still had a lot of work to do. Luckily, it was New Year's Eve and the team was all celebrating and going out somewhere. They had practiced that morning, and if it wasn't for New Year's Day being a Saturday, Herb would have had them practice the next morning as well.

"What do you guys want to do tonight?" Verchota asked the group as the guys were cleaning up after practice.

"Sleep," Bah commented dryly. Though it hadn't sounded like it, he had been joking. "I'm exhausted. I thought practices were hard enough before. Who would've guessed they could still get harder?"

"We could go downtown," Mac suggested. "There are lots of parties there."

"Or we could what Jimmy's suggested several times and go to that party at Jenny's," OC said. Jenny, or OC's Jenny, as some of the guys called her, was having a New Year's Eve Party. OC wasn't sure why Jimmy was the first to find out about it, but that really didn't matter. The party was actually at her sister's house. According to Jenny, her sister, Missy, lived in a mansion with her heart surgeon husband. The only three conditions for Jenny to have a party there was that she would clean up, Missy could have a few of her own friends come too, and it could be somewhat 'kid friendly'. Missy had two kids, and her friends had a few between them too.

"That's boring," Mac commented about the party.

"Then you can stay in the dorms by yourself. I think it sounds fun."

"You would," Mac said, knowing OC wanted to go because Jenny was going to be there. "You wanna get laid."

"Yeah," OC said, not afraid to admit the obvious.

"And if we go the party, Lexi can go," Jimmy pointed out. "That's part of the reason I've been suggesting it.

"Exactly," Mac stated. Another reason Mac didn't want to go. It wasn't a party if kids were going to be running all over. Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"Magic, are you bringing Lexi? Won't she be really tired?" asked Silky.

"Yeah. But if you all want to party at a bar or something, I can stick around here with Hannah. It's no big deal."

"No, we'll do something that she can do. Maybe if you bring her she'll sleep all day tomorrow," Verchota said.

"That's what I'm hoping," said Mark.

After a little more discussion, the guys decided to go Jenny's party. Just before seven, everyone was ready to go to the party. Mark didn't know how they did it, but everyone ended up cramming into three cars to get there. Needless to say, it was a tight squeeze. Mark had ridden over with Bah, OC, Mac, Jimmy, Verchota, and Lexi.

Bah, who had been in the passenger seat, jumped out of the car right away.

"Jeeze, that car ride wasn't at all quick enough."

"Well, I'm sorry I couldn't go 30 miles over the speed limit for you. Twenty was enough to get me a ticket two months ago," Mac said.

"Well, maybe if Verchota hadn't practically been on top of me, I would have been okay," Bah said.

"I couldn't sit any closer to Mac. He was driving. I didn't want to be in his way… or his elbows way for that matter."

"At least we'll have a few less people on the way home," Mac said.

"Why' s that?" asked Jimmy. Mac looked over to Mark and OC.

"I'll probably go to Hannah's for a while. And Lexi, obviously," Mark said.

"And of course I'll be going to Jenny's," OC said.

"You hope," was all Mark said in return.

"Yeah, I hope," OC said, correcting himself, with a cocky smile on his face, knowing that he didn't have to hope.

Mark was really glad that there were a few kids for Lexi to play with at the party. The kids all kept themselves occupied upstairs in one of Missy's kid's rooms, and Mark was enjoying himself at the party with Hannah, her friends, and his friends.

At that point, Mark, Mac, Hannah, Bah, Jenny, and OC were sitting in the living room, tuned into the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration with Dick Clark. Since New York was an hour ahead of them, it was already 11:30 there.

"Does anyone know why they drop a ball?" Mac asked. "I never really got that."

"Because of this passage of time thing. They drop to signal certain times of day for ships and stuff, and they were used long before in New York City on New Year's Eve," Bah said, knowingly.

"How the hell do you know that?" asked OC in disbelief.

"I saw this historical thing a few years ago on Rockin' New Year's Eve," he answered. That was what they were all watching then.

"Well Boston has a big party downtown too. A couple years ago they started this First Night thing. I guess it's pretty cool. They have music and fireworks and stuff."

"That's cool. There's nothing like that here," Mark said. "People just either have parties at their houses, or go out and get completely smashed at bars. New Year's Eve really isn't my favorite holiday. Personally I think it's another stupid excuse to get smashed and sleep with whoever someone wants."

"I like the sound of that," OC said joking.

"What's so bad about sleeping with whoever you want? Especially if that someone is your amazing girlfriend," Hannah said seductively, in a low voice so only Mark could hear her. OC heard too though, and shot Mark a glance asking if he was getting lucky tonight.

"Well, that wouldn't be so bad," Mark replied with a smile.

At a couple minutes to midnight, almost everyone was downstairs, getting ready to start the countdown. Even the kids came downstairs at that point. They would have all been extremely tired, but they were too excited, especially Lexi. This year was the first that Lexi was awake and she thought staying up until midnight was a big deal.

"Guys, thirty seconds until 1980," Verchota announced, watching the clock. The second hand moved to ten seconds left and everyone began counting down. When the clock struck midnight, couples kissed and shouts of "Happy New Year" were heard.

Hannah and Mark pulled away after a few seconds, breathless. Mark kept his forehead pressed against Hannah's. "No better way to start off the new year," he said.

"Well, that's debatable," Hannah said back, in a flirty tone, hinting the debatable part was what exactly they were doing. "But no matter what I'm doing, there's nobody better to spend it with than you." They kissed again in agreement.

* * *

After the party, Mark, Hannah, and Lexi all went to Hannah's house. Mark was spending the night there since he didn't have to be at practice the next morning or anything. Lexi was so tired she fell asleep in the car and barely stirred when Mark carried her inside and laid her on the couch. After covering her and kissing her goodnight, Mark followed Hannah into her room.

"I had a great New Year's Hannah," Mark said.

"Me too. And it's not over yet."

"It's not?" Mark asked, walking over to her and pulling Hannah into his arms. "What do you have in mind?" he asked suggestively.

Before either got around to answering that, they began kissing and seconds later Hannah pulled Mark onto her bed. As they were making out, with things getting really heated, Hannah pulled Mark's shirt off and ran her hands over his toned, muscular chest. Minutes later, Hannah's shirt was on the floor as well, and Mark stopped himself before unclasping her bra. Although he thought Hannah might want to have sex, he didn't want to pressure her if she in fact didn't.

As if silently speaking her wishes, Hannah began working at the button on Mark's jeans. He pulled away slightly and looked at Hannah.

"Are you sure?" he asked, needing confirmation.

Hannah nodded vigorously, then pulled him close and kissed him fiercely. "I want you so bad," she breathed.

Mark was about to argue with that. He reached around his girlfriend once again, and just as his hands were on her bra clasp, they both heard a voice from outside the room.

"Daddy!" they heard a tired and confused sounding Lexi call.

Mark rolled off of Hannah and they both sighed. Mark was more upset about their interruption than Hannah.

"Well doesn't she just have perfect timing?" Mark said sarcastically, still laying on the bed, and looking unwilling to get up. "That totally ruined the moment.

Hannah already pulled the sheet around her, in case Lexi decided to walk in.

"Daddy!" Lexi called again, now sounding upset and almost scared.

"I'm coming," Mark muttered, climbing out of bed and putting his shirt back on. Before walking out the door, Hannah stopped him.

"I'll be waiting right here for you," she said with a playful smile.

"I'll try to be quick," he said, though unsure of what exactly it was that Lexi needed and how long it would take.

"What do you want, Lexi?" Mark asked, making his way to the couch.

"I had a bad dream." Lexi went on to her dad about the dream, though he wasn't paying much attention. He had too many other things on his mind, like Hannah in the next room. After zoning for a couple minutes, Mark tuned back in.

"And then I woke up and it was really dark. You never put a little light on. And I didn't know where I was," she said.

"We're at Hannah's," Mark said.

"Well, it's dark, Daddy," Lexi said in a whiny voice. Usually Mark had a little night light on for Lexi in the dorms. She hated when it was totally dark. "And you never tucked me in," Lexi whined again.

"Stop that whining!" Mark told her. "And yes I did tuck you in. You were asleep."

"Oh," Lexi said.

"But since I'm here, I'll tuck you in again."

"Can you stay here until I fall asleep? I don't like the dark."

Mark sighed softly, but agreed.

Not too much later, Lexi was asleep and Mark went back into Hannah's room, ready to pick up where they left off. He knew they could easily get back into the moment again. Unfortunately for him though, Hannah was fast asleep.

Although he was a little disappointed, Mark thought Hannah looked incredibly cute and peaceful sleeping there. He crawled into bed next to her, and pulled the covers around them before cuddling right up next to Hannah. She stirred a little and mumbled something Mark couldn't quite make out. Hannah had a little smile on her face though, so Mark just kissed her and smiled back.

"I love you, Hannah," he said, and fell asleep moments later.

* * *

The next week was incredibly busy, and making things worse, Mark barely saw Hannah at all. She had to go back to work, and had meetings a lot that week after school. Mark had games at night, so although they saw each other, it wasn't for very long at a time.

Mark also had to see Becky again. That was one thing he really wasn't looking forward to. Lexi would actually be around this time, and Mark hoped to tell his daughter about Becky gradually, easing her into it.

Friday afternoon, Mark was expecting a phone call from Hannah. They were either going to do something together Friday night, Saturday night, or both. To Mark's disappointment though, it had turned out to be Becky on the phone. She wanted to come over that night to see Lexi.

Right after making plans with her, Hannah called.

"Why couldn't you have call five minutes sooner?" Mark groaned into the phone.

"Well I'm glad to hear from you too," Hannah teased.

"Becky called. She's coming over to see Lexi tonight. I couldn't say no, because after all, I had no set plans, and she's going to end up seeing her eventually."

"That's okay. We can spend tomorrow together. After practice we'll do something, and tomorrow night too."

"I don't know if I'll be able to get someone to watch Lexi though."

"We'll do something with her too then," Hannah said easily.

"But Hannah-" Mark began to protest.

"We'll find time alone soon, I promise," Hannah said. After being interrupted on New Year's, they mutually decided to not try having sex for the first time with Lexi in the other room again. Actually, it was more Hannah's decision, which Mark just agreed upon. If Mark had known they would have a tough time finding alone time, he would have never agreed though. Hannah took being interrupted as a sign that they should be really alone. At least for their first time together. Having Lexi in an adjacent room, and only a few steps away made Hannah uneasy.

After hanging up with Hannah, Mark went to find Mac or someone else on the team that he could beg to come over while Becky was there. Mark found Mac and Verchota down the hall.

"Mac, I have a huge favor to ask," Mark said.

"Oh no," Mac said. "I'm not watching Lexi tonight. Sorry. I have important plans."

"You do not!" Mark said. "And I don't want you to watch Lexi. I need company while Becky's over. I don't think I can handle being alone with her."

"Didn't you just say Lexi would be there?" Verchota asked, being smart. "You won't be alone with Lexi there too." Mark just gave Verchota an evil glance. "I'll come over," Verchota then offered.

Mark looked back at Mac, his eyes pleading Mac to stay in the room that night.

"Verchota just offered," Mac said.

"But I need someone who has no interest in dating Becky," Mark said.

"I don't have an interest in dating Becky," Verchota said immediately.

"Sleeping with, whatever," Mark said, correcting himself.

"I don't want to sleep with her either," Verchota said.

"Verchota, she's a member of the opposite sex in the age range of 16 to 40," Mac said laughing, having picked up on Mark's hesitancy. "Of course you'll try to sleep with her."

"I take offense to that!" Verchota said. "I do not try to sleep with every girl between 16 and 40."

"Sixteen and 30 then, whatever," Mac said, teasing him some more.

"More like 18 and 25," Verchota said, now joking back.

"Well, Becky's in that range," Mark said.

"I have limits and boundaries though," Verchota said.

"I'll stay with you," Mac finally offered, being a good friend. "Besides, I don't especially want to pick up any girls tonight anyway. I'm in no mood."

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Verchota asked Mark. "He's been acting really strange lately. He never wants to talk about girls anymore, or go out and pick girls up. I'm beginning to think he's hiding a girl from us."

Mark didn't want to say anything about Kelly, because aside from the fact that Mac and Kelly weren't dating, it wasn't his place to say anything anyway, but Mark figured Mac's strange behavior had something to do with Kelly.

"Why would I know anything if Mac's keeping a secret?" Mark asked to sidestep the question.

"You're roommates and pretty much best friends. Of course he would tell you things he doesn't tell anyone else."

"Well I don't know anything," Mark said.

Later on, while waiting for Becky to come over, Mark went over everything with Lexi. He knew he had to tell Lexi that her mother was coming over. Not only would Lexi have figured it out if not, being a smart girl and having had seen pictures of Becky, but Becky was bound to call Lexi her daughter at some point in the evening.

Mark also expected Lexi to be a bit shaken or surprised, some form of emotion showing when he told her, but he got nothing. Lexi took it really maturely for only being four.

"Why is she coming here?" Lexi asked.

"She hasn't seen you in a long time and wants to see you."

"You won't make me leave with her, will you?"

"No, you're staying right here." Mark didn't want to scare Lexi by telling her that he didn't trust Becky enough to be left alone with Lexi for five minutes, let alone take her anyplace. As long as Becky was around, Lexi wasn't leaving his sight. He had heard about too many kidnappings involving separated parents.

Mark knew in order to make Mac's plan work, he would have to tell Lexi part of the truth though, so he did, sugar coated how things really worked.

They were still waiting and Mac took the opportunity to thank Mark for not saying anything about Kelly.

"I just don't want to make it some big thing that it's not," Mac said. "I mean, we're not dating, and probably never will. I just feel like I don't want to see anyone else right now though. It's complicated."

"I understand," Mark said. A knock at the door interrupted their conversation.

Lexi went on playing with her Barbie's while Mark answered the door. Becky greeted Mark and walked in to see Lexi sitting on the floor. If she was at all upset about Mac's presence, she didn't show it.

"Oh my God, she's getting so big!" Becky gasped. "How's my little baby?" Becky asked Lexi, in a baby voice. Mark and Mac glanced at each other, both wondering how old Becky thought Lexi was. She acted like Lexi was no more than a year or so old. When Lexi responded, Mark and Mac almost laughed out loud.

"I am not a baby. I'm four," Lexi said in the most mature voice possible. "And why is your voice so weird?" Lexi asked. Becky shrunk away from Lexi, taking the hit.

All night, Lexi's performance was more than impressive. Like the guys told her earlier, she always called Becky, "Becky" and never "Mommy" and she was more than misbehaved.

"I said I wanted ice cream!" Lexi yelled when Mark brought a package of Oreos for everyone to share.

"Well, sweetie, I don't have any ice cream," Mark told her sweetly.

"Dammit Daddy – I want ice cream," she yelled again.

"Does she always do this?" Becky asked Mac quietly.

"Oh no, usually she's a lot worse. Mark told her to try to be good for you tonight."

"She's being good?" Becky wondered, her eyes wide in fear.

A few minutes later, Lexi pulled out her "Don't Break the Ice" game. "I want to play this," she announced. "Becky, set this up for me."

Becky set it up and they were ready to play. Before Becky could even reach for one of the mallets, Lexi began smashing the ice down. In less than two seconds, the game was over.

"Lexi, why did you do that?" Becky asked.

"Because I was playing the game."

"But we're supposed to take turns. If you knock the Iceman down, you lose," Becky told her.

"Well, I won," Lexi said.

"No," Becky told her.

"Yes I did, stupid! I won. Set it up again!" Lexi commanded her.

"Are you going to play right this time?" Becky asked.

"Yeah," Lexi said.

After doing the exact same thing again, Becky asked Mark to interfere.

"That's how she plays the game, Becky. I'm not going to make her angry." The whole time, Mac was doing everything he could to keep from laughing. He knew laughing could blow it all. Lexi was having a blast being a brat, and Mark was thrilled that she was pulling it off. With the way Becky was looking, it also looked like Lexi's act was working.

A while later, after a few more outbursts from Lexi, Becky got ready to leave. As soon as she did, Lexi turned back into sweet Lexi.

"Did I do a good job, Daddy?" she asked as sweet as ever.

"If you ask me, you did better than a five dollar job," Mac said.

"She didn't ask you, Mac," Mark said, through gritted teeth.

"How much do I get then?" Lexi asked, excited.

"How about ten?" Mac asked.

"Excuse me!" Mark said. "You aren't my agent. I'll make the negotiations." He turned to Lexi. "How about ten?"

Lexi held out her hand and Mark handed her two five dollar bills.

"Hey! Daddy, you said ten," Lexi said in protest.

"And I gave you two fives. Two fives make ten."

"Are you sure?" Lexi asked.

"Yeah," Mark said. "I know how to add."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Hey Lexi," Mark said, as an afterthought. "How did you think of all of that?"

"All what?" she asked.

"Everything that you did I mean, you were really bad, and mean. Was it hard to be that mean?"

Lexi shrugged. "No, I didn't like her anyways. She treated me like a baby."

"But she's your real mother," Mac interjected, thinking Lexi must have felt something for Becky.

Lexi shook her head, obviously not understanding the meaning of a biological mother. "Real mommies play with kids, teach kids stuff, and love them and things. Like what Hannah does. She's like a real mommy. But that lady was pretending to love me. She didn't even know that this Barbie's name is Megan, and this one is Caroline. Hannah knows that. We made up their names together. That lady kept calling them both Barbie. She was not my mommy," Lexi concluded assertively.

Although Mark and Mac didn't entirely get the whole thing about the Barbie's having all different names -Barbie's were another world to them - they understood what Lexi was trying to get at.

"But you don't call Hannah Mommy," Mac said.

"I know. Because her name's Hannah. And she's not married. Mommy's have to be married to the Daddy's. Then they're Mommies," Lexi explained, as if it were the most simple thing in the world. Mark only wished things were as simple as they were from a four year olds perspective.

After Mark put Lexi to bed, he talked to Mac about how Mac's plan had gone.

"I almost feel a little guilty, playing Becky like that," Mark admitted.

"Why? After everything she did to you, you actually feel sorry about it. I wouldn't."

"I don't give a rat's ass how Becky feels or what I do to her, it's Lexi I'm hurting too though. When she's older, she'll blame me for her mother never wanting to see her."

"But you have Hannah. Lexi doesn't need her real mother."

"What happens if I don't' always have Hannah?" Mark wondered, though hating to admit the thought of ever not being together. It wasn't that he couldn't see a future with Hannah, but the fact was was that people broke up. Sometimes things didn't work out. Mark wasn't going to fool himself.

"Stop being so pessimistic," was Mac's only reply.

A while later, Mark went to bed, and was able to sleep pretty good that night. Although he was unsure exactly how things went with Becky, he had a good feeling that they went okay and that she wouldn't being coming around to see Lexi again anytime soon. Mac was right when he said that Lexi be extremely bad and misbehaved would scare Becky into not wanting to have anything to do with Lexi. And now he felt better about that. No matter what, Mark and Lexi were definitely better off without Becky in their lives anyway.


	22. Oh Baby

NellieBly413672: Yeah, just wait until you see what happens with Becky in this chapter! Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter too!

Meadow567: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Enjoy this one too!

Katydid13: Thanks for the review and letting me know about the category. My story is now in it! Enjoy the chapter.

A/N: Thanks again to everyone for the reviews! I'm happy there's an actual Miracle category now – it took long enough to get one. Sorry this took so long to post too by the way. I've been so busy that I haven't had nearly as much time to write as I've wanted. I hope you all like the chapter though and please review!

The next day, Mark and Hannah spent the day together, and later in the afternoon, they decided to go shopping so they could make dinner together. Lexi stayed at the dorms with Jimmy and Rizzo. It was always easier to shop without Lexi around, plus, she didn't want to stop playing with her toys to go to the store.

The couple was walking up and down the aisles, still trying to decide what to make. Hannah picked up a package of taco shells and held it up for Mark to see.

"Tacos?"

"Eh, maybe. Let's keep looking."

Next, Mark picked up a pizza crust. "Pizza?" he asked.

Now Hannah said, "Maybe, let's keep looking."

"We could make a taco pizza," Hannah suggested a minute later.

Mark made a face, and then picked up spaghetti he saw. "Let's make spaghetti!"

"Aren't you sick of spaghetti?"

"Sick of spaghetti?" he asked, sounding shocked. "You can never get sick of spaghetti," Mark teased, then wrapped his arm around her and kissed her.

"You can't, I can," Hannah said. Then, "I have an idea!"excitedly. "How about baked ham with pineapple? It's really easy and fast to make, and Lexi will like it."

"Okay," Mark said. He thought he knew what she was talking about. His mom made it sometimes. "Now we just need to figure out what's for dessert," Mark said in a low voice, smiling a knowing smile at Hannah. Just as he wrapped his arms around Hannah's neck and leaned in towards her, he pulled away, looking at something beyond his girlfriend.

"I don't believe her!" Mark said, beginning to walk quickly down the aisle.

"What? Mark, who's her? Where are you going?" Hannah grabbed the shopping cart and started following him. "Mark, wait!" Hannah said, practically running.

"I don't believe that-" Mark started, before Hannah cut him off.

"Who?" she asked.

"Becky. With some guy. I don't believe her!"

"Uh, okay. Maybe I'm missing something here. But why do you care that your ex is with another guy? You do remember that you have a girlfriend, right?" Hannah asked, joking, but confused as to why Becky with another guy was a big deal.

"No, I forgot," Mark teased back. Then he got serious again. "I have to follow her," Mark said, beginning to walk down the main aisle now, looking down the other aisles to see where she went. Again, Hannah followed him, trying to keep up. Mark suddenly stopped and Hannah almost ran into her boyfriend with the shopping cart.

"That slut!" Mark said.

"Still clearly missing something here," Hannah said half mumbling.

Mark turned to her and whispered. "Becky's here with some random guy. Yesterday she was practically professing her love for me, and now she's making out with that guy?" Mark wondered. Hannah looked at the couple Mark was watching. They were showing quite a bit of PDA, and it looked like they have had feelings for each other for a while.

"But why do you care if she's with someone?" Hannah wondered, still not understanding.

"Because, she was doing everything she could to walk back into my life. And Lexi's life. Why did she need us if she has that guy? Unless she just wanted Lexi the whole time and was going to try to take her or something."

"Why don't we just leave?" Hannah suggested. "We can shop somewhere else."

"Hell no," Mark said. "I'm going to find out what's going on." He began walking toward his ex, with Hannah following again, whispering madly.

"Mark! Are you crazy? Stop. You don't need this. Don't make things worse by doing something-"

"Becky! Great to see you!" Mark said, with a huge fake smile on his face. Becky instantly pulled away from the guy she was kissing.

"Mark?!" she half asked, surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"Shopping. What are you doing?"

"Same thing," she answered.

"That's funny, because it looked like you were making out with him, not doing much shopping. There are private places to do that sort of thing, you know." Hannah had to stifle her laughter at that. Becky and the other guy both turned red.

After several seconds of awkward silence, Becky said, "This is Sam," trying to make conversation. "He's a friend."

"Sure," Mark said, keeping the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Hi," Hannah said, being cordial. "I'm Hannah."

"Oh, so you must be the girlfriend that Mark mentioned," Becky said awkwardly. Whenever Mark mentioned her, Becky always half ignored him, like she didn't want to hear about his girlfriend.

"Yeah," Hannah said. There was another awkward silence before Hannah said, "And you must be Lexi's mom…" Hannah sort of trailed off.

"Becky, I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Mark jumped in.

"Yeah," Becky said. "I do."

"I thought you said you still loved me," Mark said.

Becky really didn't have an answer and tried to change the subject. Mark let it go, but took a chance and mentioned Lexi.

"So, I think it's good that you met Lexi last night."

"You do?" Hannah and Becky both asked at the same time.

"Well, yeah. After all, you're her real mom. Nothing can ever change that. She needs a mom around. And you've told me that you don't want Hannah replacing you…"

"About that Mark…" Becky began. "I don't think I'll be able to come around much to see Lexi. I'm leaving in a few days."

"You are?" Mark asked, pretending to be surprised. In truth, he was surprised, but at the same time, nothing surprised him after seeing the guy with her. His guess was that she was dating him all along. After a few minutes of awkward conversation, with Becky pretending to really be sorry she was leaving, Mark called her on it.

"Becky, please stop with the load of crap. I have no idea why you were here in the first place, but it obviously wasn't to get back together with me and see Lexi. I can tell you've been dating Sam all along, so don't give me that shit. I really don't care what you do, but stop lying about it."

"Okay, fine. You want to know why I came here? Because I wanted Lexi back." Becky pulled a pill bottle out of her cart and flashed it at Mark. They were prenatal vitamins. "I'm three months pregnant, and we're broke." She was referring to her and Sam. "If I took Lexi, you'd have to pay child support." Becky took a deep breath. "But after the other night, I don't want that little brat. I really don't know how you do it, but I do know you need to do a better job. Lexi walks all over you, and it's pathetic."

The look on Hannah's face was one of pure shock, as was Mark's. Immediately after Becky's little tirade, she then said, "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Have a nice life, Mark. And Hannah, you better get out of this while you still can. Mark's not anything that special." With that, she grabbed Sam's arm and left the store, not even bothering buying the items she had in her basket.

Becky's last words really stung Mark, though he didn't want to admit it, especially not to Hannah. Hannah picked up on how those words hurt Mark though.

"Mark, don't listen to her. You're a great guy, and I love you." Hannah hugged him and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. When that didn't seem to do much, Hannah said, "And I promise I won't follow her advice."

Mark smiled at Hannah, showing he was fine. Hannah could tell he still wasn't all that fine though. She could understand that too. Becky had a child with him, and all she could say was that he wasn't that special? A couple minutes later, Hannah tried to get Mark talking.

"She's bitch anyway, Mark. You seriously have to ignore everything she says."

"I just don't believe she said that! And it's not just that, but what's more is that she always used to be so nice. Or so I thought. I still don't get how she's changed that much. Ever since Lexi was born, she's been a complete bitch. I just don't get it. How did I not see the real her?"

"Mark, you did see the real her. She just changed."

"But how can one person change that much?" Mark asked, half bewildered.

"I have no idea," Hannah admitted honestly. "But I do know that without her you wouldn't have an amazing daughter. An amazing daughter that obviously gets her amazing qualities from you."

Mark smiled. "Thanks, Hannah."

"It's true. And look on the bright side… you wanted to drive Becky away, and you did. Now you don't have to worry about her bad influence on Lexi or anything."

"Yeah, and that definitely calls for a celebration," Mark said.

* * *

Later that night, Mark was hoping that he and Hannah would get to spend some time alone together after Lexi went to bed, but his plan didn't work out to well. Mac came back to the room early, just as Mark was putting Lexi to bed. Hannah knew that all of the interruptions were killing Mark. Lately, the couple rarely got time alone, and when they were alone, it wasn't for very long. Hannah went home around midnight, and promised Mark that next time they would go to her apartment.

After Hannah left, Mark started in at Mac.

"Mac, why did you come back so early? I wanted to be alone with Hannah."

"Then you should have told me. I could have stayed out longer."

"Jeeze, every time we're alone we're interrupted."

The way Mark said this made Mac assume a little too much, even if what he assumed was true.

"You two haven't done it yet?" Mac wondered.

"I never said that," Mark said. He didn't want to discuss his sex life with Mac. It wasn't really fair to Hannah. Not that they had sex yet anyway.

"You haven't though," Mac said.

"Fine," Mark admitted. "We haven't. But not because I don't want to."

"She doesn't want to?" Mac asked.

"No, she wants to. Not as bad as me though. But we get interrupted every time it's a possibility. Usually it's because of Lexi."

"You need to get rid of Lexi then," Mac said easily.

"I'm not getting rid of my daughter for that!" Mark exclaimed.

"I don't mean get rid of her. Are you crazy? I mean ask someone to watch her for the night."

"I hate imposing on people."

"I'd be willing to bet that anyone on the team would do that favor for you."

"But I don't want to have to explain myself or tell people all about it. Our sex life is private."

"I'll watch her," Mac offered.

"You always complain though."

"I joke more than I mean it though. I can watch her for a night."

"Will you really?" Mark asked, hopeful.

"Yeah. Whatever night you want," Mac said.

"I'm gonna hold you to that then," Mark said.

* * *

The next couple of weeks flew by, and before anyone knew it, it was the end of January and almost time for the guys to leave for Madison Square Gardens to play the Soviets. They had a few more nights in Minnesota and everyone was making the most of it. It wasn't that they weren't excited to go, because they were, but in less than a week, they would have to really step up their game, spend less time partying, and more time focusing on hockey.

Friday afternoon, OC picked Lexi up from school. This became the routine after OC started seeing Jenny. They weren't serious, it was just a casual relationship, but OC liked to stop in to flirt every chance he got.

"Hey sexy," he said, seeing her in the hallway.

"You're late," was her response. Jenny was didn't really mind, she was just giving him a hard time, but it was true, OC was twenty minutes late picking Lexi up.

"I'm sorry. I took a shower after practice because I wanted to smell good for you," OC said, with his charming smile.

"How sweet," Jenny said, half sarcastically.

OC gave Jenny a quick kiss on the lips, and a few of the preschoolers that saw said "Oooo."

"Quiet down munchkins," OC told them. "Are you still coming tonight?" OC asked Jenny.

"Yeah. Seven, right?"

"Yeah, I'll pick you up though."

"Okay, see you later."

"I got a whole new box of rubbers, so don't worry about that," OC added.

"Jack, shut up," Jenny said, and playfully pushed him. "There are kids around."

"That's why I spoke in code," OC said. "If not, I would have said cond-"

"Jack shut up!" Jenny said, cutting him off.

"What are rubbers Miss Landers?" one little boy asked.

"They're rubber duckies," she said, quickly covering. "Jack loves rubber duckies. He has a hidden collection under his bed."

"Do you take them in the bathtub? I love bubble baths and I always bring my rubber duckies," a little girl said.

OC answered her. "No, I don't really like taking them in the bath. I've heard they don't work to well."

"But they're made for the water," she said.

"Not the ones I have. Mine are special rubber duckies," OC said, and winked at Jenny. She rolled her eyes, although the conversation was amusing. OC wasn't talking about rubber duckies at all.

"And you keep them under your bed?" another kid asked.

"Well, no. Miss Landers is wrong about that. I usually use them too fast to keep a stash under my bed."

"Jack, you better take Lexi home," Jenny said, warning him. "You want to play with you rubber duckies later, don't you?"

"Okay, let's go Lexi," OC said, taking Lexi by the hand.

"Oh yeah, and Jack," Jenny said, stopping him. He turned around.

"It seems like Lexi's starting to get a cold. Tell Mark he might want to pick up some decongestant or something." As Jenny said that, OC heard Lexi sniffle.

"Okay, I will," he said.

* * *

Later that night, the guys were all having a good time at the bar, as were the girls that came with them. Not everyone brought someone, but a handful did. Patti was watching Lexi for the evening, but it was getting late and Mark knew he should pick her up soon.

"I'll get her," Mac offered. "You can go to Hannah's with her or whatever," he told Mark.

"Are you sure you're ready to leave?" Mark asked.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks, Mac." Mark went to find Hannah, who had been talking to a couple girls who were with Pav and Christoff.

"Hannah, are you ready to go?" Mark asked. Hannah said good-bye to the girls and they started walking away. "Mac offered to watch Lexi," he told her as they were walking out of the bar.

"Really?" she asked, sounding excited. "Is that why we're leaving now?"

"Yeah, I'm coming over," Mark said.

They got to Hannah's and no sooner did they walk in and shut the door behind them, Mark began furiously kissing Hannah.

"Mark, we have all night. Take it easy," she said, laughing.

"But I'm getting impatient," he said, and kissed her again. Hannah stopped him a second time, pulling away a little. Then she grabbed his arms and started pulling him toward her bedroom.

"Let's go in the bedroom then," she said.

As soon as Mark and Hannah both had their shirts off, Mark began unbuttoning Hannah's jeans when the phone rang.

"Ignore it," Mark said, kissing her neck, unzipping them now.

"Mark, I have to answer it. No one would call me after midnight unless it was an emergency," Hannah said, pushing Mark off of her when she sat up so she could answer the phone.

"Ugh, fine," Mark said. He knew she had to answer the phone, and just hoped it would be a wrong number or prank call. Mark listened to her half of the conversation.

"It' okay… oh, no!…no, we'll be right there...okay…bye." Hannah put the phone on the receiver and looked at Mark.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"Lexi's sick. She threw up all over the floor. Mac thinks she has a fever and doesn't know what to do. She crying and wants her Daddy."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Mark said.

"I wish I was," Hannah said. "We should get over there."

"Yeah," Mark said. He was disappointed. He could tell that Hannah was a little too, she was just better at hiding it.

"I'm really, really sorry I interrupted," an apologetic Mac said when the couple walked in. Mark was over it now, and just wanted to make sure Lexi was okay. "She's really sick."

"Mac, Lexi's puke is all over the floor," Mark said.

"I know. I figured making sure she was okay was more important. Plus, I didn't really want to clean it up," Mac admitted.

Mark went over to Lexi's bed, where she was laying. "Lexi, baby, I heard you're sick."

Lexi looked at her father with tears in her eyes and shook her head.

"Come here," Mark said, pulling her into his arms. "You'll be alright." Mark felt her forehead. "You do feel warm."

"I throwed up," Lexi said. "Mac hates me."

"I don't hate you," Mac said right away.

"But you got mad," Lexi said. Mark couldn't tell if Lexi was more upset because she was sick or because Mac was 'mad.'

"I'm not mad, Lexi," Mac told her.

"But you sweared. You said shit. Daddy only says that when he's mad."

"I just couldn't believe you threw up, that's all. I'm not mad at you."

"I don't like throwing up, Daddy," Lexi said, ready to start crying again.

"I know you don't, baby," Mark said, still holding his daughter and stroking her hair to calm her down. He didn't really know what to do. Mark didn't have any medicine for her, and by now, every where was closed. He didn't even have a thermometer. Mark didn't know Lexi had a fever though. She felt really hot. Whenever Lexi was sick before, Mark always had his mom to help take care of her. He couldn't even call his mom now. It was going on one in the morning. Then Mark had a thought.

"Hannah, can you feel her forehead?" Mark asked. She feels really hot. Hannah put her hand to Lexi's head.

"She does feel hot," Hannah agreed. "Why don't we get a cool washcloth and put it on her head for a while. And maybe try some Vick's and give her Children's Tylenol for the fever." Mark and Mac both looked at Hannah like she was from outer space. "You don't have any medicine, do you?" Hannah asked, realizing she was talking to guys.

"No. I have a washcloth though," Mark said. After sitting with Lexi a while, who was half sleeping, but kept waking up, Mark felt her head, which still felt hot. Mac had gone to bed, but Hannah stayed up with Mark.

"The washcloth doesn't seem to be helping," Mark said.

"No, she still feels really warm," Hannah said after touching Lexi head again. "If I had to guess, I'd say she's in the 101 to 102 range."

"Should I call the hospital?" Mark wondered, thinking Lexi was extremely sick.

"No, if the fever doesn't come down tomorrow, I would call her doctor. But she'll be fine. It seems like she has a cold, and kids get fevers when they have colds a lot."

"Are you sure?" Mark asked. He was starting to get really worried about Lexi.

"I'm positive," Hannah said with a smile, thinking it was cute Mark was so worried about Lexi, and confirming for Mark that everything would be okay. "Just keep her hydrated." A few minutes later, Hannah crawled into Mark's bed to get some sleep. She told Mark to go to bed too, and that if Lexi woke up, he would know, but Mark wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet.

"You can sleep Hannah. I'll come to bed in a few minutes."

"Okay," Hannah said.

For the next half hour or so, Lexi tossed and turned, but didn't really wake up at all. Mark decided to go to bed too then, or else he would be sleeping on the floor next to Lexi's bed.

The next morning, everyone slept in. They all needed it after going to bed so late, and not really getting a good night sleep anyway.

Lexi was up first the next morning, and walked over to her dad's bed.

"Daddy," she whispered. Mark was fast asleep, dead to the world. "Daddy," Lexi whispered again, shaking him a little. This time, Hannah heard the little girl and sat up.

"How are you feeling, Lexi?" she asked.

Lexi really didn't respond, but mumbled and started crying a little. Hannah noticed that Lexi still looked sick and figured it was best for Mark to take care of her. Before Hannah had to wake Mark up, he heard Lexi crying and woke up.

"Hey, sweetie."

Lexi made mumbling noises again, and was crying. Mark pulled her up onto the bed, next to him. Mark kissed his daughter's forehead, which he noticed was still a little warm, but slightly cooler than the night before.

"My tummy hurts," Lexi said, sounding very congested.

"Do you want some juice?" Mark asked, remembering what Hannah told him about giving her fluids. He figured she didn't want anything to eat. Lexi nodded.

Mark picked her up and carried her to the refrigerator to get a sippie cup and juice. He also took her into the bathroom so he could help Lexi blow her nose, which he noticed she now needed.

"I'm gonna go to the store to get some medicine today," Mark told her. "And how about Spaghetti O's? They might make you feel better." Mark remembered that his mom used to give him Spaghetti O's when he was sick.

Lexi nodded, before putting her head back down on Mark's shoulder.

The whole day, Mark spent trying to make Lexi as comfortable as possible. She just lay around and watched TV all day, not even wanting to play with her toys. Hannah stuck around for a while, but since Mark had everything under control, she left to run a few errands and get some things done. It was going to be a busy week since she was taking time off from teaching to go to Lake Placid to watch Mark and the team. She had to have lesson plans ready to give the sub for the days she would be gone.

Before Hannah left though, Mark went to the store and picked up everything she told him he needed. So now, Mark had everything to help Lexi get and feel better.

At around three, Mark decided to go let the guys know he wouldn't be having dinner with them. He thought Mac probably already told them, but Mac stayed clear of the room all day. He was afraid he would get sick too. Mark was going to leave Lexi alone for a minute, but she wouldn't let him.

"No Daddy!" Lexi said. "Don't leave me!"

"I'll just be a minute," Mark told her. "Watch your show and I'll be back before you know it."

"No!" Lexi screamed, and jumped off the bed to run over to Mark. She grabbed his leg. "Don't leave me," she said, now with tears streaming down her face.

"Okay, okay," Mark said. Lexi never acted like that. Mark knew it was probably because she was sick. "Do you want to come?"

Lexi held her arms out to be picked up.

Mark found the guys in OC's room, watching football. Lexi was really sniffling now; crying had made her cold sound worse.

"Hey guys," I just wanted to let you know I'm not going to have dinner with you."

"You're gonna miss out on my meatballs," Rizzo said.

"I know. And I'm so disappointed," Mark said, half sarcastically. Rizzo's meatballs were an inside joke with the team, and although they all teased him, everyone looked forward to Sunday night dinners when he made them.

"Hey Sniffles," OC said to Lexi, who hadn't stopped sniffling since they walked in the room.

"She has a cold," Mark said.

"Oh yeah, by the way, when I picked Lexi up Friday, Jenny said she might be getting a cold and to get her some medicine."

"Gee, thanks for letting me know," Mark said, sarcastically.

"Is she sick?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, last night she had a high fever. Her fever's gone down, but she's still not feeling great.

"What is she doing here then?" Verchota asked. "The Olympics are in two weeks. Get her out of here before we're all sick!" A few of the other guys immediately start yelling at them to leave too. Then, after Rizzo promised to bring Mark and Lexi some dinner over later on, Mark headed back to his room with Lexi.

Later that night, after dinner, Lexi's fever went up again. She had a little to eat, which Mark was happy about. That happiness was short lived though. Lexi complained of feeling sick again.

Mark took her into the bathroom so he didn't have to clean up the floor this time. Lexi began crying again, and Mark couldn't do much to calm her down. It was even really her normal crying, but a sick sounding crying. Mark noticed she felt warm again, and just hoped her fever would drop soon.

That night, Mark let Lexi sleep in his bed, and they seemed to both get a little better sleep that night. Mark knew it was because of the medicine he had been giving her, and he also put Vick's on her, which helped her to breathe. Hopefully, she'd be as good as new really soon, he really hated seeing her sick.

Fortunately, a couple days later, Lexi was all better, just in time to leave for New York. She also got to go to her last day of school in Minnesota. The class had a joint going away party for her and a good luck at the Olympics party for the guys. Only a few of the guys came, but the kids really didn't know the difference. They just thought having seven Olympic hockey players come to their class was cool.

The guy's game at Madison Square Gardens against the Soviets was two days away and they were all getting nervous because their first game against the Soviets would be a real test to see how far they've come and if beating a team of that caliber was possible.

Since the team was going to Lake Placid immediately following the game in New York, they brought everything they needed with them. It was weird to think that they weren't coming back to Minnesota. After the Olympics, the guys were all going their separate ways, and most were going to be playing in the NHL. In two weeks, their Olympic journey would be a mere memory. Everyone wanted to make the most of their time together, and no one was really ready for it to end. At least they had two, what they hoped to be exciting, weeks ahead of them.


	23. When's It's Love: Part 1

NellieBly413672: Yeah, Becky's pretty much a jerk. She won't be coming back though. I'm glad you liked the chapter so much, and I hope you like this one too! Thanks for the review!

Meadow567: Thanks for the review. Glad you liked the chapter. And you'll have to wait and see about Mark and Hannah. It'd be pretty sad if they get interrupted again, especially if they were interrupted on Valentine's Day, lol. (I'm not saying they will or they won't, you'll have to wait and see.) Enjoy the chapter.

Katydid13: Thanks for the review. Is interesting a good thing or bad thing? I hope good, lol. Enjoy the chapter.

A/N: Sorry this took me forever to get up. School has been so busy. Anyway here's another chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it. It's a very long one, (14 pages in Word) so I decided to split it in half. So, the bad news is, you're only getting half now, but the good news is that you definitely won't have to wait too long for the next one. It's also a good thing that the chapter is finished, because my last week of classes is next week, and I have three exams between Thursday and Friday, and then I have three finals the first two days of finals week, Monday and Tuesday. Ahh, my life is going to be so hectic! Anyway, I'll stop rambling on now so you can read the chapter and then review! Oh yeah, and by the way Happy Thanksgiving!

When the team arrived in New York, it was late in the afternoon. Their game wasn't until the next night, so they were able to get a little rest and sight see a bit. After a long bus ride, most of the guys were incredibly hungry, so they stopped out to eat. After dinner, a lot of the guys went to their rooms to hang out for the night, while Mark took Lexi to Rockefeller Center to go ice skating. She had started to get pretty good on skates, but she still needed practice.

"Daddy, watch me," Lexi said, trying tricks on her own. Mark laughed a little, watching his daughter. She was so much like him at that age. Lexi was fearless. Now she was attempting to skate backwards. She didn't make it very far before falling though.

"Want to skate fast?" Mark asked. He had his skates on too, and Mark took Lexi's hands and skated backwards while pulling her forwards around the rink.

"We're going so fast!" Lexi said with delight. In reality, they weren't going all that fast, but to Lexi it was pretty fast.

"Yeah, we are," Mark agreed.

After skating for a while, Lexi was getting tired, both her legs from skating, and she was tired in general because it was late, so Mark suggested they start walking back to their hotel.

"We have a long day tomorrow, kiddo. We should try to get a good night sleep." Right after the game the next night, the team was leaving for Lake Placid.

"But I'm not tired yet," Lexi said.

"By the time we get back, I'm sure you will be," Mark said, knowing she really was tired though. But, when they got back to their room, Lexi still said she wasn't tired, and it didn't help that OC and Bah were hanging out with Mac in their room either.

"I'm not going to bed. Everyone else is still up," Lexi said, protesting.

"They're leaving now," Mark said.

"We are?" OC asked, being smart.

"Lexi, get your pajamas on."

"No, Daddy!" she yelled.

"Lexi, I'm not asking. I'm telling you," Mark said.

"You're being mean!" she said, stopping her feet and crossing her arms.

"Alexandra Nicole Johnson, get in your pajamas right now!" Mark said, not really in the mood for his four-year-old mouthing off.

"But Daddy," she whined. "I don't want to!"

"I don't care. You're going to bed." Now Lexi started crying. "I'm not putting up with this," Mark said.

"But I'm hungry Daddy! I want a snack."

"After you put your pajamas on, you can have something to eat."

"No, I want a snack first."

Mark just started ignoring Lexi, not wanting to respond to her until she was changed. Finally she got the message and came in changed and ready to have a snack.

"Do you want some cookies?" Mark asked.

Lexi shook her head. "I want ice cream."

"We don't have any here," Mar said. "You can have cookies or potato chips."

"I want ice cream!"

"Lexi, I don't have any."

Lexi stomped her feet and screamed.

"If you don't stop right now, you're not getting anything." The three guys were still in the room at this point, watching Mark deal with his over tired and misbehaving daughter.

"You're a bad Daddy!" she yelled.

"Go to bed, Lexi," Mark said, trying to ignore her comment.

"I hate you!"

"Good. Then find a new Daddy."

Lexi didn't know what to say to this at first. Then, she got mad and stomped away from Mark. A while later, the guys were still watching TV and Mark was brushing his teeth and changing in the bathroom. When he came out, he thought Lexi would be over her tantrum, the guys would leave, and everyone could go to bed. Unfortunately, it didn't work like that.

"Where's Lexi?" Mark asked. None of the guys knew. "None of you were watching her?" he asked incredulously.

"I didn't know we were supposed to," Bah commented.

"Well, I was in the bathroom. I figured someone would make sure she didn't disappear." A minute later, Mark realized his daughter had left the room.

"Well, in her defense you told her to find a new Daddy," OC said.

"I didn't mean it. I was angry," Mark said. "She said she hated me."

"I'm sure she didn't mean that either," Mac pointed out.

"Where could she have gone?" Mark wondered, worry creeping into his voice.

"Probably not too far. I'll help you look," Mac offered. Bah and OC decided to help too.

After knocking on a couple of doors, Mark found himself at Jimmy and Rizzo's room, his worry growing with each room turning up with no sign of his daughter.

"Have you seen Lexi?" Mark asked, before Jimmy could say anything.

"I was just about to bring her down to your room. I'd told her you were probably worried."

"She's here?" Mark asked, with a sigh of relief.

Jimmy pushed the door open enough for Mark to walk in and see Lexi.

"Lexi! Why did you leave like that? I was worried that something happened to you."

"I'm lucky I found her before she got on the elevator," Jimmy said.

"Oh my God," Mark said quietly. Then he half yelled, "Lexi, why would you do that? You can't leave the room without telling anyone. I was worried about you. Someone could have kidnapped you and I would have never seen you again! If anything happened to you I'd be really sad." Mark wasn't yelling because he was mad anymore, he was mainly relieved he found her and being loud.

Lexi's lower lip began quivering, and then she burst into tears and ran to her dad.

"I'm sorry Daddy!" she said, wrapping her little arms tightly around Mark's leg. "I didn't want to scare you. I love you. You're not a bad Daddy, I promise. And I don't want a new daddy, I want you." Mark picked the upset little girl up and held her.

"It's okay, sweetie. Just promise me you'll never leave without telling me again," Mark said and kissed Lexi's head.

"Okay," she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Let's go back to the room okay. We have a long day tomorrow and we should all go to bed."

"Okay, Daddy."

* * *

The next morning, Lexi woke up very cheerful. Mark knew she needed a good night's sleep after the night before. They went downstairs to have breakfast with a few of the guys before their morning skate to get ready for the game later that evening.

For the most part, the guys were a little nervous about the game that night, but they were also excited to see how far they have come since June. Their game against the Soviets was a big test.

Unfortunately for them, the game didn't go that well. With the final score of ten to three, the locker room was filled with mixed emotions. On one hand, the guys were all angry and upset, reliving every play in their minds, trying to determine where they went wrong. Another part of them was discouraged, because they would need to have a massive turn around to be able to beat them in the Olympics. They not only lost that night, but they felt almost humiliated. Aside from those emotions, OC was injured, putting them in a tough spot if he couldn't play. OC was going to the hospital to get X-rays while the guys were heading off to Lake Placid, so they wouldn't even know anything until the next day. The guys were also annoyed – but not so much about their loss as they were with Lexi.

Herb suggested that Lexi, seeing as she had come to be a team cheerleader in a sense, sit on the bench for at least part of the game, unless she got too bored and distracted the guys. She wasn't distracting, just annoying. After the Soviets scored their first goal, she yelled at them, imitating Herb. It was bad enough having one coach that yelled things like, "You're playing worse by the minute and right now you're playing like it's next year," but it's even worse coming from a four-year-old. If that wasn't enough, Lexi was cheering, trying to pump them up when they were six goals down with five minutes left to go. Needless to say, the Soviets scored again in those last five minutes.

Now in the locker room, Lexi was repeating phrases she had heard Herb say several times before. The guys knew Lexi's heart was in the right place, but they were incredibly annoyed. They were already analyzing every play that night, and they didn't need someone else doing it too.

By the time the guys got to Lake Placid though, they all were rested, (as rested as they could have been sleeping on a bus), and feeling a bit better. After all, they were finally at the Olympics. They quickly forgot about the previous night and shook it off, ready to go with their pre-medal round games. The guys also found out that OC might be able to play in a few games, and that he only stretched a ligament.

That afternoon and evening, most of the guy's families were coming in. The USOC helped them all to make accommodations at the same hotel that the guys were at. Mark was excited to see both his family and Hannah, and he knew Lexi was too. His family and Hannah ended up getting there after dinner, so they all ended up walking around the Olympic village together for a while. Mark's parents turned in pretty early, but Mark, Lexi, Hannah, and Kelly stayed out a while.

"Who wants hot chocolate and a donut?" Mark asked everyone when they passed a stand selling hot chocolate and donuts. Everyone did, so Mark and Kelly waited in line while Hannah and Lexi went to find a place to sit. Mark wanted to talk to his sister alone for a couple reasons.

"So, Mac was wondering if you were coming to the games," Mark said, bringing up the first topic of conversation.

"So?" Kelly said.

"Kelly, I know there's something going on between you two," Mark told his younger sister.

"There's nothing going on between us!" Kelly solidly stated.

"Well, nothing concrete. But I know you two kissed at Christmas. He told me. And, when you called a week after Christmas, I know it was to talk to Mac. I'm not stupid. You never call me. It's always Lexi. You should have at least covered with that," Mark said. A week after Christmas, Kelly did call, and she was very surprised when Mark answered the phone, because usually it was Mac that answered. And whenever she called, she always wanted to talk to Lexi, never Mark, so that day, when Kelly told Mark she was calling for him, Mark knew she was lying.

"So what if I called him? I don't like him like that though. And even if I did, nothing would ever happen."

"Kelly, I don't care if you like him."

"Mark, why would I even care what you think? I don't. You have no influence on me. But I don't like Mac."

"Fine," Mark said. He didn't want to argue anymore. Besides, he had other, more important things to talk to her about. "What do you think about me and Hannah?"

"You know I like her. And you know I think you two are good together. And good for Lexi too. Why do you ask?" Immediately after asking, Kelly gasped. "You are not!"

"Not what?" Mark asked, confused.

"Tell me you're not proposing."

"You just said you like us together," Mark reminded her, laughing.

"I know, but personally, I think it too soon. You should wait."

"I'm not proposing," Mark said. "Not yet anyway."

"Then why all the questions, big brother?" Kelly asked. Sometimes Kelly called him 'Big Brother,' like Sally does on Charlie Brown. It's only Kelly thinks she knows more than Mark about something though.

"Because I want to ask her to move to Pittsburgh with us."

"You do realize you going to Pittsburgh in like two weeks, right?" Kelly asked. "That's really soon for anyone. Limited notice for a girl especially is not a good thing."

"I don't want her to pick up her life right now," Mark explained. "I want her move this summer. After school's over. But I almost feel like I'm being selfish. You know, asking her to pick up her life and move."

"If she wants to be with you, she won't mind moving." It was Mark's turn to order. After ordering, he turned to his sister. "Do you think she'll do it?"

Kelly turned to look over to where Hannah and Lexi were sitting. They were playing some sort of game and they were both laughing.

"Yeah, I think she will."

* * *

The morning of the guy's first game, Mark was going to breakfast with Hannah and his family. During breakfast, Mark noticed Mac walking into the dining room of the hotel. Mac looked over and spotted Mark's family, then began walking over. Then, Mac saw Kelly and stopped. After a second of contemplating what to do, he turned around and began walking the other way. At this point, Hannah followed her boyfriend's gaze and watched Mac too. They were both sitting on the same side of the table so they could easily see Mac. Then, Mac turned around again and began towards the table. Stopping dead in his tracks, he shook his head and turned back around. This time, he didn't get away though, because Lexi's stopped him.

"Look, it's Mac!" she said pointing.

Now Mac felt obligated to turn around facing the table once again. He walked up. "Hi," he said. "I don't want to bother you during your breakfast, so I'll be leaving now."

"Don't' be silly. Sit down and eat with us. We only just started," Mark's mother insisted. Lucky for Mac, the last empty seat was next to Kelly. She immediately averted her eyes down to her plate and started at her food while eating.

After an awkward breakfast – which was really only awkward for Kelly and Mac, the guys need to head to the rink to get ready for their game. Lexi was staying with her grandparents, aunt, and Hannah for the day. They were taking her to the game later too.

That night, the guys ended up tying the Swedes, with an exciting goal from Baker with 27 seconds left. They really needed to tie so that chances at medaling wouldn't be ruined. Everyone was happy they won, but the guys were a little hard on themselves. They knew they needed to play better the day after tomorrow against Czechoslovakia.

* * *

On Valentine's Day, the guys were playing the Czech's late in the afternoon. Before that though, most of the guys either hung out with their families or relaxed in their rooms. Mac ventured downstairs to grab a bite to eat. He looked over the hotel buffet, but it was the end of breakfast and there was hardly anything left. He decided to take a walk down the street to find something when he almost ran into Kelly at the main doors.

"Hi Kelly," Mac said, careful not to say much because her mood was always a surprise.

"Hey Mac. Whatcha up to?"

"Just going to grab a bite to eat."

"Missed breakfast?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"So did I. There's really nothing left. I really don't want those awful, rock hard pancakes again. Mind if I go with you?"

"Not at all," Mac replied. He opened the door and motioned for Kelly to go through. "After you."

"Thanks." When they got outside, there was an awkward silence for a minute before Kelly commented on the game a two days before.

"Good game the other night."

"Thanks, but I really didn't play well. None of us played that well. You must have only least the last thirty seconds."

Kelly laughed a little. "Well, that last thirty seconds was the best. But I thought you played well. Especially after getting hit like that, I thought you definitely wouldn't be going in again."

"Neither did I," Mac replied. "Herb went a little crazy in the locker room though."

"At least you guys tied it up," Kelly said.

"Yeah, we're lucky. Overall, we didn't really play that well."

"Okay, maybe it wasn't a good game then, I guess I'll take your word for it. But it was exciting."

Mac gave her a funny sort of look. "Exciting for you maybe, but trust me, it was stressful for us," he said, referring to the team. Kelly laughed a little. "If you don't mind though, I'd rather not talk about it. I don't really want to get started on that again."

"Okay, I completely understand," Kelly said, ready to drop the subject. She had had a feeling that Mac was pretty pissed during the game, and she only saw him from her seat far away in the stands.

After chatting about more random subjects a few minutes, Mac and Kelly decided on a small restaurant that advertized serving eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, and other breakfast foods. They found a seat and ordered food after taking a look at the menus. Surprisingly, they enjoyed their breakfast without their normal arguments, which was a little weird for them. Mac also realized that Kelly was almost trying to be as nice as possible to him.

"So I see you're still wearing that charm I got you," Mac said, in attempt to make more conversation.

"Yeah," Kelly said, now looking at her bracelet.

Mac sighed, contemplating whether to ask what just came to him. "Okay, I have a question for you. And you can say no if you want, and I'll completely understand. This is like spur of the moment anyway. But… if you're not busy tonight, do you want to go out?" After a few seconds of Kelly not responding, Mac thought, _there goes not fighting today. Now she'll yell at me for asking._

"Like out on a date?" Kelly asked, her facial expression unreadable.

"Uh… yeah," Mac responded quietly. Mac thought he saw a slight smile on Kelly's face and was hopeful.

"It's Valentine's Day," she then said, almost sad sounding. Now Mac knew that couldn't have been a smile he saw. He was about to get rejected. Or yelled at. This was Kelly after all. The threat of Kelly's wrath made Mac change his story a bit.

"Exactly. I'm single, and last time I heard, you're single. So I just thought instead of us both being alone, we could hang out or do something." Now Mac felt really stupid for asking. Kelly didn't want to go out with him. What was he thinking?

"So it wouldn't be a date?" Kelly asked.

"Well…" Mac didn't know what to say. "No?" he finally decided upon, though it sounded more like a question.

"Was that a question?" Kelly asked with a smile. Then she made a motion, telling him to never mind answering. "If it's not, I don't feel as bad about saying no," Kelly said.

"Okay, well, that's fine. I don't care. I just thought… well, I guess… I don't care," Mac rambled.

Kelly could tell that Mac felt a little dejected, even though he tried to hide it. "It's not that I don't want to, but I promised Mark I would watch Lexi. He wants to sleep with Hannah, which he wouldn't come right out and admit, but I know he does, and I promised to watch her and not call him for anything at any time during the night."

"Oh, okay. Well, like I said, it was just a thought anyway," Mac said again. E was glad that Kelly wasn't mad at him at least.

"It was a nice thought, Mac. And I really would have liked to. Actually, if it would have been a date, I would have liked the idea even more, and it would have been really hard to turn you down."

"What?" Mac asked, not sure he heard her right.

"You said it wasn't a date date, and just because we would both be alone otherwise. But if it was a date, I be really upset about turning you down. A Valentine's Day date would have been fun." Mac didn't know it, but Kelly was trying to get him to admit he always meant it as a date.

"Well, to be honest, I was asking as date date. But then I thought you'd get mad or something," Mac admitted.

"I knew it!" Kelly said. Mac laughed a little, almost a nervous laugh. "Why would you think I'd be mad?"

Mac raised his eyebrows, silently asking if she really had to ask.

Kelly laughed. "Okay, I get it," she said. She knew the way she acted in the past. "If my parents weren't going out too, I would have them babysit instead."

"Well, if you really want to go on a date, maybe we still can," Mac said.

"How's that?"

"Lexi can come too. I wouldn't be able to take you to a really nice restaurant, but at least we could still go out."

Kelly thought about it a minute. "Okay, she said. On one condition. I want to dress up, so it has to be a semi-nice restaurant. It can't be McDonald's."

"Okay, I can do that," Mac said. "And maybe Lexi coming with us will be a good thing. After all, then I won't be able to try anything. We'll have to keep it rated G," Mac said with a smirk.

Kelly rolled her eyes at his joke. "Yeah, yeah. But you better watch out after she goes to bed. I like that X-rated kinky stuff," Kelly joked back, making Mac lose his grin and look serious – and scared. "I'm joking Mac," she said, laughing. "Oh yeah, there's one more condition."

"What!?" Mac said, pretending to be really surprised, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You heard me. The second stipulation is that if we go out, you can't be scared of me anymore. I'm not that intimidating."

"I'm not-"

"Don't give me that. I know you're scared of me."

"Fine," Mac said in agreement. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises. You're scary," he joked.

"Let's get going before I come to my senses and change my mind about tonight," Kelly said. "I don't want word of this date getting around. Besides, you have a game to get ready for."

"Kelly, I hope you know that if we go out, it won't be a secret. After all, we're bringing Lexi."

"Oh please. Did you forget how good she is at keeping secrets? Give her five bucks, and she won't say a word. Mark had Hannah thinking Lexi was my daughter for weeks!"

"You know about that?" Mac asked, shocked. He didn't think Kelly knew all of that.

"I know just about everything," Kelly said with a wink.

"That's exactly why I'm scared of you," was Mac's reply.


	24. When It's Love: Part 2

NellieBly413672: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it. You'll see Kelly and Mac's date this chapter, and you'll see if Hannah will move with Mark. Enjoy it!

Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked it and I hope you like this one too.

Katydid13: Good. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter too.

Rejazz: Thanks – I'm glad you're all caught up and liking it so far. Thanks again for the review and enjoy the chapter!

A/N: As promised, here's another chapter. Thanks so much for all the reviews after the last one - I love getting them! Well, enjoy the chapter while I get back to studying. I hate exams! The end of the semester is always so stressful and busy. I'm lucky I had this chapter written ahead of time. Leave me some good reviews to read when I want to procrastinate studying a little more!

After an exhilarating seven to three win, a lot of the guys were ready to enjoy Valentine's Day with their girlfriends, those that were in Lake Placid anyway. OC thought he was in for a long night alone watching movies or sports on TV, but was surprised to hear a knock at the door shortly after he got back to his room.

He was even more surprised to see Jenny at the other side of the door.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, excited to see her. OC had hoped Jenny would be able to make it, but wasn't completely sure she would, especially because he wouldn't be playing until one of the last games, if that.

"I wanted to surprise you. I came to the game earlier and you guys did great."

"Well, except me," OC said, feeling bad about his injury.

"Hey, I won't have any of that sad stuff. I'm not here so you can mope. I'm here to cheer you up. And, before I forget, Happy Valentine's Day," she said, giving him a kiss.

"You know we can't have any real fun tonight, right?" OC asked.

"Is sex all you think about? I don't care that we can't have sex! I just want to spend time with you."

"But casual relationships are only good for sex," OC said, almost reminding her what they had was casual.

"OC, I like to think of us as friends with benefits. And I'm here for the friend part tonight. And here's your present," Jenny said, handing him a wrapped package.

"If were just friends with benefits, why did you get me a present?" OC asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's nothing special, trust me," Jenny said.

"I didn't get you anything though. I feel bad," OC said.

"Then you can share your present with me." OC looked at Jenny questioningly. He opened the gift to find a box of assorted chocolate truffles.

"Thanks, Jenny," OC said, laughing. He immediately knew why Jenny got the candy. She loved chocolate truffles, and although OC liked them, Jenny liked them way more.

"You have to share."

"Get in here," OC said, rolling his eyes and hobbling on back to sit on his bed.

"And you should be using your crutches Mister," Jenny said.

"You sound like my mother," OC commented.

* * *

Unlike OC, who thought he would have no fun on Valentine's Day, Mark knew he would have fun. Nothing would stop him and Hannah from sleeping together that night. Lexi was going to be with his sister, and spending the night in her room, so even if something went wrong, Kelly could take care of it.

Mark met up with Hannah, Kelly and Lexi after the game. He wanted to give Lexi a kiss goodnight because he wouldn't see her until morning. To his surprise, his daughter was dressed up and looked really cute. Then, Mark noticed that Kelly was somewhat dressed up too, but she apparently wasn't ready yet for whatever she was getting dressed up for, because she was rummaging through her suitcase.

"Kelly, what are you doing?" Mark asked simply.

"Ugh! I can't find them. I know I brought them!"

"What are you looking for?"

"My shoes."

"Aren't they right here?" Mark asked, picking up a pair of shoes.

"Not those. Those are brown. Does my outfit look like brown would match?" Kelly asked rhetorically, sounding almost angry at Mark for asking.

Mark shrugged. Lexi answered for him.

"No."

"Thank you, Lexi. I'm looking for my black shoes," Kelly then said.

"Why?" Mark asked.

"Because," Kelly answered. "Does this outfit look good?" she asked.

"Yeah. Where are you two going?"

"We're having a girl's night," Kelly said immediately. "Right Lexi?"

"Yep," she agreed.

"See, just us girls," Kelly said, almost covering for something.

Mark thought Kelly was acting a little weird, but didn't say anything. He just shrugged it off. "Well, I'm outta here. Goodnight Lexi. Get a good night sleep and I'll see you in the morning." Mark gave Lexi a kiss and hug before leaving. "And have a fun girl's night… or whatever it is you're really doing," Mark said. He couldn't help himself from saying that last part. Before Kelly was able to defend herself, Mark quickly left the hotel room.

Before going to meet Hannah at her room, Mark stopped by his room to pick up Hannah's flowers and gift. Mac was there, getting ready for what Mark assumed was a date. He had a suit and tie on, and was holding up other ties, as if trying to see which looked best.

"Pick the red," Mark suggested.

"Oh, hey, what are you doing here?"

"Getting Hannah's flowers and gift. So, who's the lucky girl?" Mark wondered.

"No one."

"You cannot tell me that you're dressing up with no where to go."

"Well, she's just some girl. It's nothing that special. Just a little dinner."

"Okay. Whatever you say. I gotta get going. Have a good night. And don't do anything I wouldn't do," Mark joked.

"Uh, Mark… think about what you're planning on doing tonight. I don't think I can do much more than you."

Mark laughed. "I know. Bye."

Mark got to Hannah's room a few minutes later. She had a gorgeous red dress on, and she looked exceptionally amazing tonight.

"Maybe we should skip dinner and stay here tonight," Mark playfully suggested when Hannah opened the door.

"I don't think so. I'm starving," Hannah said. "Amazing game today by the way," she added.

"These are for you," Mark said, handing her a bouquet of flowers.

Hannah thanked Mark, took the flowers in, and they were ready to go.

At dinner, Mark wanted to give Hannah her gift. He wasn't exactly sure how she would react though, because they hadn't talked about what would happen after the Olympics.

Hannah opened the flat little box and saw Pittsburgh pamphlets, a plane ticket, and key.

"What's this?" Hannah asked hesitantly. She thought she knew, but she wanted Mark to say it.

"I know we haven't discussed what's happening to us after the Olympics are over, now like a week from now, but I wanted to talk to you about that tonight."

"And?" Hannah asked.

"Well… I know you have a job in Minnesota, and your life is there… your family, friends, and life in general. But I love you. If someone told me back in June that I'd find real love on the way to the Olympics, I would have never in a million years believed them. But I love you Hannah. And I don't want us to end. I don't want to lose you. So… I wanted to ask you, when your ready, if you would want to join me and Lexi in Pittsburgh? I know it's asking a lot, and if you want to think it over, I completely understand. But I wanted to put it out there."

Hannah sighed, which concerned Mark a little, but her warm smile put him at ease.

"I love you too, Mark. I love you and Lexi more than anything. You both mean so much to me, and I would love to move to Pittsburgh with you."

"You would?" Mark asked, smiling widely, almost like he couldn't believe Hannah's answer.

"Yes," Hannah said. "But," she began, making Mark think her answer wasn't going to be the simple yes he had wished for. "I don't know… I mean, it's so soon… I just don't know if I can right away," his girlfriend finished.

"Okay, I understand," Mark said, his disappointment evident.

"No, Mark, that's not what I meant. I do want to move with you. I just don't know if I can right now. I know I want to, that I don't have to think over. I love you and Lexi more than anything. But like you said, my life is in Minnesota. My family, friends, job… I might have to do it slowly, that's all."

Now Mark was relieved. Hannah's answer was still yes. "Oh, yeah. I completely understand. I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to start moving this summer. I have to go to Pittsburgh right after the Olympics to play for the Pens, and I know you have work. But if you moved this summer, I could be there to help you and everything."

"I think this summer would work," Hannah said with a smile.

After talking about their upcoming plans a little bit, and Mark telling Hannah about the apartment in Pittsburgh, Hannah admitted she foresaw Mark asking her to come with him. Apparently, Hannah's mother warned Hannah that Mark would ask Hannah to come with him in one way or another. It wasn't so much a warning as it was so Hannah would be prepared. Hannah told Mark the story her mother told her.

"At one point, my dad asked my mom the same thing," Hannah explained. "They started dating late in college, and just before graduation, my dad asked my mom to move to New Jersey with him, because he had a job offer there. My mom thought it was too soon and said no, her life was in the town she went to college in. They broke up, but after three weeks of being really sad and depressed, my mom went to New Jersey and luckily, by some miracle, found my dad. They've been together since," Hannah finished. "I decided to not risk it by saying no and then having to find you," Hannah explained. "Because I know I couldn't let you get away," she smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you're coming," Mark said. "And I know Lexi will be happy too."

A few minutes later, when Mark and Hannah were finishing up their dinner, Hannah laughed a little, randomly.

"What?" Mark asked.

"I have to give you credit for being brave," Hannah said. "You asked me about the whole moving thing pretty early on in the night. If I would have said no, you'd be a very unhappy guy later tonight."

"Yeah, I would," Mark said, then smiled and added, "I thought you'd say yes though."

"Did you?" Hannah asked.

"Sort of. I talked to Kelly the other day, and she told me how great we were together, and basically she could tell we loved each other a lot, including that you loved Lexi. So I guess I had a pretty good feeling about asking."

A little while later, Mark and Hannah made it back to Hannah's hotel room. By this time, they both couldn't keep their hands off one another, or their lips for that matter.

"I have wanted to rip off your dress all night," Mark said, while kissing Hannah. His arms were wrapped around her, and his hands beginning to unzip the back of her dress.

"I love you so much," Hannah said, kissing Mark back and untucking his shirt so she could rubbing her hands under his it and over his tight abs. Mark pulled away from Hannah a little so he could slip the straps of the dress off her shoulders. After Hannah was left in her lacy black matching bra and underwear, Hannah took Mark's already loosened tie off and undid Mark's belt, throwing it on the floor once she had it off. Seconds later, Mark and Hannah were on the bed, ready to remove the last of what little clothes they still had on.

"One second," Mark said. He grabbed his pants off the floor and reached in the pocket. That was empty, so he reached in the other, which was empty too. Now he was frantically searching for something.

"Baby, come on. What are you looking for?" Hannah asked.

"Shit! I know I had some in here. They're gone!" he yelled. "How the hell could they be gone?"

"What?" Hannah asked.

"Condoms. I can't find them."

"Looks like we'll have to go get some," Hannah said.

"There won't be any place open to get them now," Mark said. "I don't even think I saw a store around here that would actually sell them. This is unbelievable!"

While Mark was rambling about what options they had at the moment, which included going to the front desk to ask if they had any, and going to his teammate's rooms to see if they had any, Hannah couldn't get his attention. Mark was clearly upset. Finally, she did.

"Mark!"

"What?"

Hannah held up a condom package and smiled.

"You found them!" Mark said happily.

"Well," Hannah said, a guilty smile spreading across her face. "I hid them before. I wanted to see your reaction. Which was really good, by the way."

"You are unbelievable," Mark said, crawling on the bed back over to Hannah. He hovered over her, the kissed her full on the lips. "You deserved to be punished for that," Mark said seductively when he pulled away.

"Oh do I?" Hannah asked back, raising her eyebrows, and pulling Mark closer, kissing him.

* * *

In the meantime, Mac, Kelly, and Lexi were enjoying a fun night together as well. They ended up going to a nice Italian restaurant in the Olympic Village that wasn't too fancy, but perfect for either bringing a date or a family. After dinner, they decided to walk back to their hotel and stop at a few shops along the way. While walking, Lexi was a few feet ahead of Mac and Kelly, and they were walking side by side. Every couple strides, their arms would brush against one another. Finally, Mac got the courage to take Kelly's hand in his. He looked to her for approval, and she looked at Mac and smiled. Lexi then ran into a store and told them to come inside. After a minute of looking in the gift store, which was selling shirts and other souvenir items, Lexi found a necklace that she just had to have.

"Can I please buy it?" she begged her aunt.

"Buy it with what? I don't see you carrying a purse."

"But you have to pay me ten dollars," Lexi said.

"Ten? The deal was five!" Kelly said.

"Five from each of you makes ten," Lexi said.

"The deal was five all together," Mac told the little girl.

"I didn't agree to that!" Lexi exclaimed.

"Fine," Kelly said, after looking at Mac and silently agreeing to give her what she wanted to get her to keep her mouth shut.

"Can I buy the necklace now?" Lexi asked.

"Yeah, I'll get it for you." The necklace was just ten dollars, and Kelly paid the extra tax and then put it on Lexi, who wanted to wear it right away.

An older lady had waited on them and made a comment. "It's so nice to see parents including their children in their Valentine's Day plans. And she looks so much like you two."

Kelly had no idea how to respond to the old lady's incorrect statement. Lexi probably would have bluntly corrected the lady had she heard, but she didn't. Luckily, Mac jumped in with a reply.

"Thank you," he said graciously, though he didn't know why the lady said Lexi looked like both of them. Lexi did look like her aunt, but nothing like Mac. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world to spend my Valentine's Day with two beautiful girls."

The three left the store then, and when they got outside, Kelly said, "Nice save. Thanks."

"I'm sorry I didn't correct her, but I would have felt impolite telling her, 'Oh, this isn't our daughter, and she's only with us because we're babysitting and couldn't leave her at the hotel alone.' That would have been rude."

"No problem. I didn't really want to correct her either, but I was so surprised I didn't know what else to say. With all the time I spend with Lexi, that's never happened before."

After stopping in several other stores on the way back, they finally reached Kelly's room and went inside. Mac and Kelly decided to watch TV for a while, more specially, Olympic coverage. Kelly was glad there was no hockey game on, because she didn't really want to listen to Mac rehash everything about their previous games or get nervous thinking about future games. They watched speed skating for a while. Eric Heiden won another gold.

"Heiden's pretty incredible," Mac commented. "He's already won two golds and some say he has a chance at winning a few more. And he broke that world record in his first race."

"Yeah, he's really good. There're a few other athletes I've been watching that are really good too."

"I just hope we can medal," Mac said. "Beating the Soviets would be…" Mac was at a loss for words. "It would be a miracle."

Kelly knew better than to respond to Mac. She'd been dealing with her brother so long, that she knew Mac really didn't need or want her to say anything. Especially not anything that would agree with needing a miracle to beat the Soviets. Instead, Kelly decided to try to get his mind off hockey, and the Olympics in general.

"Let's watch a movie. I'm sure we can find a channel with something good on."

While Mac and Kelly enjoyed their movie, Lexi was playing with a few toys she had brought with her. A little while later though, Kelly noticed the exhausted little girl had fallen asleep on the floor. Kelly got up and moved Lexi to a bed, then covered her and gave her a kiss goodnight. She then hoped back into bed next to Mac to finish watching the movie. Mac moved a little closer to Kelly then, stretched his arms up in the classic stretch and yawn so he could wrap his arms around Kelly. Kelly immediately realized what Mac was doing and reached up her arm to pull Mac's arm around her tighter and also make sure he didn't chicken out. After she was satisfied, Kelly then wrapped her arm around Mac sort of, resting her hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder.

Once that was over, nothing else was really on TV, so they just began talking a little. Their conversation was really random, but enjoyable. Mac and Kelly were both so comfortable with each other, relaxing in each other's arms and talking. They lost track of time and it was going on three in the morning. Mac only turned to look at the clock when he saw Kelly yawn.

"I can't believe it's that late," Kelly said when Mac told her the time.

"I should probably get going and get a little sleep," Mac said.

"You could always stay here you know," Kelly told him.

"I don't know," Mac began. "Do you really think it's a good idea?"

"Why not? It's not like we'll be doing anything. Just sleeping."

"Just sleeping," Mac said with a nod, reiterating what Kelly said.

"Come on, Mac. It's not like we're doing anything wrong. Please? I'll be mad if you leave, and I'll never forgive you."

Mac looked at Kelly, and more importantly her pleading eyes. She really wanted Mac to stay. And Mac wanted her to be happy. And he actually kind of wanted to stay himself. He wasn't really sure why, because after all, they would be just sleeping, but he liked the idea.

"All right. I'll stay."

"Good," Kelly said, sounding as if she won by getting Mac to stay. Mac kissed the top of her head, which was still resting on him as a pillow and after saying good night to each other, they quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Back in Hannah's room, he rolled off Hannah, breathless. "That was amazing!" Mark said when they were done.

"So it was up to your expectations after the long wait?" Hannah asked.

"Definitely," Mark said, giving his girlfriend another quick kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too. You're the most amazing boyfriend," Hannah replied.

Hannah and Mark lay together for a while, just enjoying being together before they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Mark and Hannah both slept in a bit, which was really nice. The guys didn't have a game that day, and it was nice to just lie in bed and relax. When they finally did roll out of bed it was a little after ten. They both took showers and got dressed before going to pick Lexi up and have breakfast. By now, it was almost lunchtime though.

Mark and Hannah got to Kelly's hotel room and knocked at the door. After a minute, Lexi opened it. "Shhh, they're sleeping," Lexi said, putting a finger to her lips.

"Who's sleeping?" Mark asked, noticing Lexi said 'they're'.

"Aunt Kelly and Mac," she said, sounding as if Mark should have known.

"Mac's here?" Mark asked, not knowing what to think. Hannah made a motion for him to be quiet and pointed to the bed. Mac and Kelly were sleeping all right. Kelly was cuddled right up next to Mac, who had his arms wrapped protectively around Mark's sister. Kelly's head was resting on Mac's shoulder, and Mac's chin just touched the top of Kelly's head.

Mark was shocked, and almost mad. Why were they sleeping together with Lexi in the room? He didn't want to have to explain anything to her. On the other hand, at least they appeared to be fully clothed.

Hannah saw that Mark looked a little tense and from behind him, wrapped her arms around him and rubbed her hands on his chest. She whispered, "Leave them sleep. They both look so cute. Plus, the longer they sleep, the more you have to hold against them. And think about when they wake up, the looks on their faces when they see us here.

"I should have seen this coming. They were both getting dressed up last night, but I didn't put two and two together," Mark said. "Their dates were each other!"

Mark and Hannah were only in the room a few minutes before Kelly and Mac woke up. The couple in bed didn't even know Mark and Hannah were there at first and could hear them talking. Although everyone was in the same room, Mark and Hannah were in another corner, being quiet and unable to be seen from where Mac and Kelly were.

Kelly yawned and stretched a little.

"Morning," Mac said, smiling at Kelly.

"Morning," she said back, also smiling.

"Did you get a good night sleep?" Mac asked her, and kissed the top of her head.

"The best," Kelly replied, smiling at Mac. "You make for a really comfortable pillow."

"It's getting late. Do you think we should get up?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, the last thing we want is Mark and Hannah getting here while we're still in bed."

Mark loudly cleared his throat. "I think it's a little late for that," he said.

Kelly and Mac both jumped out of bed faster than anything Mark had seen before. Mark and Hannah couldn't help laughing.

"Shit!" Kelly swore. "What the hell? Why are you here?" she asked her brother.

"I came to pick up my daughter. I didn't know you we're having a sleep over last night," he said. "And here you both insisted your respective dates were nothing special."

"Nothing happened Mark. I swear nothing happened between us at all," Mac insisted.

"I believe you," Mark said. "But if something did, I don't care. I'd only care because my daughter was obviously with you, not because I care what my sister does. Or _who_ my sister does," Mark snickered.

"Mark, get your mind out of the gutter!" Kelly said, throwing a pillow at him. "We didn't do anything!"

"I think we're gonna go," Mark said, speaking for himself, Hannah, and Lexi. "We'll let you two have a little time alone now." Mark winked and began collecting Lexi's things so they could leave.

After they did, Mac spoke up. "I'm sorry we got caught. It's my fault. I shouldn't have stayed here last night."

"Don't be silly. It was just as much my fault. I threatened to get mad if you left. And I know that scared you a little," Kelly joked. It was true though, and Mac knew it. Kelly's threats, real or not, still scared Mac.

"You did not scare me!" Mac insisted, then he smiled and added, "But I'm really glad youasked me to stay."

"Well, I guess I better take a shower and stuff. I want to get something to eat too."

"Yeah, I better go too. I have to meet up with the guys later."

"Thanks again for last night Mac. I had fun," Kelly said.

"Me too. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, see you later," Kelly said.

After they were alone, Kelly in her room and Mac in the hallway, they both thought about the previous night. They both enjoyed their time together, but knew that was probably it for them. At least it was fun while it lasted. And it wasn't just fun, but they both thought their date was one of the most comfortable and stress-free first dates they've ever had; although in their case, it was probably only date they would ever have.


	25. Just Like Magic

NellieBly413672: Glad you liked it and thanks for the review. There's going to be more cute moments this chapter too. Enjoy!

Meadow567: lol, yeah they did. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter too.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I don't have school, but it seems like I was even busier with Christmas. Anyway, here it is and thanks again for the reviews.

Two days after Valentine's Day, the guys had a game against Norway. They were still pretty high off their upset win against the Czechs, so they went into the game confident and excited. Their fans were excited as well.

Hannah was in the stands with Lexi, Kelly, and Mark's parents. She was also sitting near the McClanahan's, the Eruzione's, and Jimmy's dad. It was nice being able to meet the guy's friends and families that were at the games. It was especially funny watching Kelly when she met Mac's family, because it was really awkward.

"This is Mark's sister, Kelly," Ali finished off, introducing her daughter to the McClanahan's. Kelly had been talking to Hannah, so she hadn't heard that the couple was Mac's parents.

"Nice to meet you Kelly," Mrs. McClanahan said, speaking for herself and her husband.

Kelly shook her hand, then asking, "I'm sorry. I didn't catch whose parents you are."

"Robbie's," the mother answered.

"Oh, okay," Kelly said, blushing a little, and wondering if she knew anything about her son's Valentine's Day date. Kelly told her parents, only because they wouldn't leave her alone about it, but she hoped her mom would keep her mouth shut.

Between the second and third period, Kelly was holding Lexi on her lap and talking to Hannah when she heard her mom and Mac's mom whispering and laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kelly asked, having heard her name.

"Nothing," they both answered.

"I heard my name," Kelly said.

"I was talking to Mrs. McClanahan," Ali reminded her daughter.

"Yeah, about me!" Kelly replied. Now Mac's mom answered Kelly.

"Robbie had a lot of fun the other night," she told Kelly. Kelly blushed.

"It was nothing. We hung out instead of being alone. What's the big deal?"

Unfortunately for Kelly, both mothers were typical moms. They went on to talk about how cute it was that they went out; acting as if Kelly weren't there or couldn't hear them. Kelly rolled her eyes. They were treating it like Mac and Kelly had a grade school crush or something.

A minute later, Mac's dad, who heard the two mothers talking, commented. "So Kelly's the reason Mac has been on cloud nine recently," he stated.

Now Kelly blushed more. And she wasn't sure if Mac's dad was joking or not. Was he upset? Was it a good thing? Did he think Kelly was distracting Mac from hockey? It was hard to tell what Mac's dad meant. Hannah laughed a little at Kelly's situation.

"Don't you go laughing at me too!" Kelly warned her. "The date wasn't that cute. They're acting like we're in the fourth grade!"

"I'm laughing because the whole situation is funny and awkward." Then Hannah leaned toward Kelly and whispered, "And it would be even more awkward if they knew what Mark and I found when we went to pick Lexi up."

"Don't you dare say anything!" Kelly said in a harsh whisper.

"I won't," Hannah smiled. "But you better hope Lexi doesn't either."

A few minutes later the third period began, putting everyone's comments about Kelly, Mac, and Valentine's Day to a rest. With five minutes left, the U.S. was still winning, and five to one at that. After that, the intensity picked up. It was almost as if Norway thought they could score four goals to tie it in five minutes. Not that that was impossible, it was just highly unlikely.

With just over three minutes left, everyone was watching the puck when Lexi, who was watching Mark, shouted, "Daddy fell down!" In an instant, the game was stopped, as everyone else realized what had happened. Lexi always watched Mark instead of the puck, and she therefore saw the cheap shot on him.

"What happened?" Kelly wondered out loud.

"That was cheap!" someone sitting somewhere behind them shouted. Others in the crowd joined in shouting too. Luckily, one of the refs had seen Mark get hit, and now Team USA was on the power play.

While the penalty was being given, Doc rushed onto the ice to check on Mark. A hush fell over the crowd, waiting for Mark to get up.

"I hope he's okay," Hannah said, obviously worried.

"It looks like he is moving around a little bit," Kelly said, though also worried about her brother.

"Is Daddy okay?" Lexi asked, looking up at her aunt.

"Yeah, sweetie. He'll be okay," Kelly said, kissing Lexi's head, though at the moment, not convinced herself.

"Come on, Mark, get up," Hannah whispered, as she heard the arena commentators talk about the terrible possibly that Mark was injured.

"If Mark Johnson's injured, this could be a crushing blow to the US team. He's been an amazing playmaker and goal scorer throughout the games so far, really stepping in when the team needed it the most." Hannah tried to block the comments out as she watched and hoped her boyfriend was okay.

After what was only a minute or so, but what seemed like an eternity, Mark was helped up and skated off the ice. Hannah noticed that Mark didn't go to sit on the bench, but instead went into the locker room with Doc. She was trying to figure out what he injured. Seeing that he didn't need help skating off the ice, it probably wasn't a leg injury. Hannah also reasoned that if Mark hit his head, someone would be helping him skate off the ice as well. She hoped she was right and that Mark didn't hit his head. But the injury was obviously bad enough to send him to the locker room immediately.

The last three minutes of the game were awful. Hannah couldn't stop worrying, no matter how much everyone told her that Mark was probably okay. As soon as the final buzzer sounded, Hannah left her seat and practically ran down to the locker room. She was so worried, especially because Mark didn't even stay on the bench to watch the game. Trying to be optimistic, Hannah decided that he probably went to the locker room immediately because there were only a few minutes left anyway, and the team was already up by four.

Hannah knew she couldn't go into the locker room without waiting a few minutes, and she knew she might not be allowed in anyway. Lucky for her, the wait wasn't too long. Herb came out to speak to the press, and noticed Hannah waiting.

"He'll be okay Hannah. His shoulder did get banged up, and he may have a slight rotator cuff injury, but Doc thinks he'll be okay to play in the next game."

Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. When Mark's family made it down a few minutes later, Hannah told them exactly what Herb just told her. They didn't have to wait long for Mark to come out of the locker room.

Hannah immediately ran over to hug him, but was careful not to get too close to his injured shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay," she said. Then she stood on her tiptoes and reached over the hockey bag on his good shoulder to kiss him.

"I wish I got greeted like this after every game," was his response before he gave Hannah a quick kiss back.

"Herb said it was a minor injury?" Hannah said, questioning the story Herb told her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It hurts, but with a day to rest up, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm just mad Doc's making me wear this sling."

"Daddy you got a booboo?" Lexi asked.  
"Yeah."

"The mean man pushed you down. I saw it!" Lexi said.

"Yeah, he sure did," Mark said.

"That wasn't nice. Next time you should hit him with your stick so he falls too."

"But that's against the rules," Mark told her. "And I'd get a penalty."

"So? He was mean first," Lexi said. "He did something against the rules too."

"Yeah, that's why we got the power play."

"Yep, and he had to sit in that little box," Lexi said, matter-of-factly, proud that she knew something.

"Let's get going," Mark said, not wanting talk about the game anymore right then, and pointed toward the exit. Lexi then stopped and turned around.

"Can I have a piggy back ride?"

"Does it look like I can carry you?" Mark asked rhetorically. With his bag in one hand, and an injured shoulder, there was no way he could carry his daughter.

"I'll carry you," Mark's dad said, picking her up and tossing his granddaughter in the air a little. Lexi giggled.

"Do that again!" she squealed. As Mark's parents and Lexi headed out, Hannah and Mark followed behind.

"Are you coming?" Mark asked Kelly before going through the doors.

"Go ahead without me. I'll catch up," Kelly replied.

When the couple got back to Mark's room, Lexi was getting ice cream with her grandparents, Hannah was attempting to make Mark comfortable.

"I'll get you some ice for your shoulder," she said. "You should ice it at least a little while tonight. Take some ibuprofen too so it doesn't hurt as much."

"Hannah, thank you, but I'm fine. It doesn't hurt that much, and I think I can even take off the sling," Mark said, beginning to remove the sling.

"Don't you dare take that off! If Doc's making you wear it, it must be necessary."

"Hannah, I promise if my shoulder hurts I'll put it back on. Until then, it's coming off."

"Fine, but don't move your arm around too much. You need to be well enough to play in the next game."

"Okay, Mom," Mark said, rolling his eyes.

A few minutes later, Hannah brought a bag of ice over to Mark.

"Here's some ice. Now let's get you out of these clothes and ready for bed." Hannah began pulling up Mark's shirt to help him take it off. She knew it would be hard with his injured shoulder.

"Oh, you're going to undress me. I like it," Mark joked.

"Shut up," Hannah said, giving him a slight push. As Hannah did this Mark grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. He kissed her lightly at first, before deepening their kiss. Hannah pulled away.

"You're injured. There's not going to be any of that!"

"Can't I just kiss my girlfriend?" Mark asked innocently.

"No, because we both know where kissing leads…"

"We've made out a million times without doing anything else," Mark reminded her.

"Yeah, but guys and sex is like… girls and chocolate. You think you're okay without it for a while, but then you have a little taste, and suddenly you can't get enough."

"So you're comparing me to your obsession with chocolate now?"

"No, I'm comparing chocolate to sex."

"So you'd rather have chocolate than sex?" Mark challenged, waiting for Hannah's response. He was surprised with the answer.

"Yeah. Most girls would," she said easily. Mark thought she was sort of just teasing him though.

"Okay. But you should know I feel a little insulted now... chocolate taking priority over me. I think you need to make it up to me," Mark said in a suggesting tone.

"I already told you not tonight!" Hannah said. "Anyway, Lexi will be back any minute."

"Who said making it up to me would involve moving my shoulder? I can be good and stay still… and I know you're just as good at other things too…" Mark hinted. "Things that would let my injured shoulder stay pretty still…" There was a knock at the door.

"Told you Lexi would be back any minute," Hannah said, jumping up to answer the door.

"It's me!" Lexi announced as Hannah opened the hotel room door.

Hannah laughed when she looked at the cute little girl. "Mark, you daughter's already on her way to liking chocolate better," Hannah said, adding to their previous conversation. Lexi must have had chocolate ice cream, because it was all over her shirt. Mark looked over and smiled.

"Good. I'm going to make sure it stays that way," he said.

"Sorry about the mess," Mark's dad apologized. "You know how kids are with ice cream though. More gets on them than goes in the mouth."

Hannah just laughed. "Well, thanks for taking her."

Mark's dad talked to his son a few minutes to make sure his shoulder was okay. You could still tell that Bob had some of the coaching in him, because at the same time that he was concerned for his son, he was thinking about the game and how everything would turn out. He left a few minutes later though. "See you three tomorrow," he said as he left the room.

"Lexi, get your pajamas on and get ready for bed, please," Mark told his daughter, from his position lying on the bed. Lexi obeyed and after finding her pajamas, went into the bathroom to get changed and ready for bed. "I guess we'll have to make this fast," Mark said, taking Hannah's arm and pulling her close, ready to kiss her. "It'll take her about five minutes before she comes out of the bathroom," Mark explained. Hannah just laughed, knowing he was surely joking now. He wanted to see her reaction.

"I promise we can have a make out session after Lexi goes to bed, but first I'm gonna help you get out of your clothes." Hannah helped Mark with his shirt, carefully taking his injured shoulder out of the arm and then lifting the shirt over his head. "Do you want a shirt on for bed?" Hannah asked him.

"Nah, it'll be too hard to put on."

"It's no problem. I don't want you to be cold. Constant cold is probably bad for your shoulder too."

"It's warm enough in here. Plus, I have a beautiful girlfriend that will keep me warm," Mark said, catching Hannah's lips in a kiss.

"I'm not staying tonight," she told him.

"You have to," Mark said. "Please?"

"Nope. You need rest."

"I'll sleep much better with you here."

"Lexi's here too."

"So? She saw Mac and Kelly sleeping together the other night."

"I'll think about it," Hannah said.

"Besides, what if I need help with something in the middle of the night?"

"Oh please," Hannah said with an exasperated sigh. "Ten minutes ago, you were completely fine and didn't even need the sling."

"Ten minutes ago, my girlfriend was acting like my mom. Now she's offering to undress me. I'm going to take that kind of service when it's offered. And if I'm lucky, I might be able to convince her I need help in the shower tomorrow," Mark said, talking about Hannah.

"You'll need to be really lucky," Hannah commented, as the hotel room door was opened.

It was Mac, and not so coincidentally, Kelly. Mark knew Kelly's presence, and appearance with Mac wasn't a coincidence like she was going to make it seem.

"I decided to stop in to see how you were when I ran into Mac in the elevator," she explained.

"Uh huh," Mark said, not really listening to her explanation. He had to hold back from making a sarcastic comment.

"Aunt Kelly, are you having a sleepover over here tonight?" Lexi asked sweetly, having just come out of the bathroom.

"No. I'm leaving. I wanted to make sure Hannah was taking good care of your Daddy."

"Is Mac sleeping over at your room?" Lexi asked.

"No!" Kelly and Mac replied simultaneously, surprised that Lexi would have even asked that.

"Told you she picks up on things," Mark told Hannah. "Now will you stay?" Hannah rolled her eyes.

"Lexi, do you think it's normal for boys and girls to have sleepovers?" Kelly asked her niece.

She shrugged. "I guess. But I don't know why. Boys in general are gross."

"Your dad's a boy," Mac said.

"Daddy's aren't gross. Boys are gross," Lexi repeated, like there was a difference between the two.

The topic of conversation was quickly changed and a little while later, Kelly was ready to leave.

"Well, I'm gonna get going. I'm really tired."

"I'll walk you to your room," Mac offered.

Mark knew that something was definitely going on. The normal Kelly would have yelled at Mac for even offering, let alone would she have allowed it.

"Hannah, how come you don't sleepover with Daddy like Aunt Kelly and Mac do?" Lexi asked. "You two are really good friends too. Daddy's your boyfriend."

"Well, maybe I will tonight," Hannah told the little girl, now seeing a smile on Mark's face.

* * *

The next morning, Mark, Hannah, and Lexi were at breakfast when they were trying to decide how to spend their day. The guys didn't have a game that day, so after a short practice they would have the day off. Later that evening the guys were going as a group to watch speed skating. Eric Heiden was on his way to a third possible gold. There was talk he might even be able to break the record for gold medals in the Olympics. It was sort of funny too, because Mark was good friends with Eric since the first grade. They grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same school until high school, when Eric went to a private school. Even then, the two remained friends, and now they were both in the Olympics.

As Mark and Hannah were discussing their plans for the day at the table, the waitress came over to take their orders. Lexi ordered first. She ordered an omelet. Actually, she pointed to the picture of one, which looked really appetizing.

"Is that okay with your Mommy and Daddy?" the waitress asked, thinking that some kids don't like eggs.

"She's not my Mommy," Lexi said. "Hannah is Daddy's girlfriend."

"Oh, okay," the waitress said, looking embarrassed for her assumption.

"Aunt Kelly says that if Daddy and Hannah get married, Hannah will be my new Mommy," Lexi said. This made Mark choke on the water he was drinking.

"When did Aunt Kelly tell you that?" Mark wondered.

"Yesterday. I asked her why I couldn't call Hannah, Mommy."

Hannah, sensing things were a little awkward, concentrated on her menu and wouldn't look at Mark. The waitress cleared her throat, wanting to give the group the hint she needed their orders.

"Sorry," Mark said, the waitress having got his attention. "An omelet would be fine for her. With ham and cheese. I'll have one too, but with ham, cheese, and peppers. Plus a side of bacon."

"I'll have the same as him," Hannah said, still trying to avoid looking at Mark.

Finally, the waitress left, making things a little less awkward. Hannah felt a little better without her hearing them talk about the topic Lexi brought up.

"Why can't she just go along with what other people say?" Mark wondered out loud about his daughter, smiling at Hannah to show her their conversation didn't have to be weird at all. "Sometimes I wish Lexi was really shy and didn't like talking to strangers."

"Why?" Lexi asked.

"Because you talk too much. And you tell people things that aren't any of their business."

"But Aunt Kelly was telling the truth. She said I can call Hannah 'Mommy' when you have a wedding. And she said I could be in it," Lexi added with a smile.

"Aunt Kelly doesn't get to decide who's in my wedding. I do," Mark said, hoping to end that conversation.

"Hannah gets to too," Lexi said. "It's the girl's wedding more."

"Who gave you that idea?" Mark asked while Hannah laughed a little.

"Daddy, it's the girl's wedding more because she wears the dress."

"What if I wore a dress?" Mark asked.

Lexi laughed at the idea. "Daddy, you can't wear a dress! You're a boy!" Mark just looked at Hannah and shrugged. Then Lexi brought the conversation back to the wedding specifically. "So when can you get married?"

Mark looked at Hannah, who was again, trying to avoid looking at her boyfriend. Mark grabbed her hand to get her to look at him.

"Lexi sweetie, I love Hannah very much, and I hope that she will be your Mommy someday." Mark said this with a smile, looking at Hannah, who smiled back. Mark continued, "But right now, we're taking one thing at a time. We have too much to think about like the Olympics and moving to Pittsburgh." This satisfied Lexi for now, and she didn't have anymore questions.

Just after the three began eating, Lexi had another question.

"When you get married will I get a baby brother or sister?" Lexi asked. This time, instead of choking on water, Mark choked on a piece of bacon and Hannah choked on her water. They looked at each other, silently asking one another where she came up with that. "I know what you're thinking," Lexi said, almost sounding like a mature pre-teen or something. "But Aunt Kelly and Mac told me all about that."

"Oh Lord," Mark muttered under his breath, wondering what Kelly told her now. And, if Mac was in on it, he knew he had a reason to worry.

"Aunt Kelly told me I could only get a baby if you two loved each other," Lexi said, making it seem like a sibling would be her baby. "And if you love each other, you get married. But after that what happens? I don't believe in the stork, Daddy. I know the baby grows in the Mommy's tummy."

"Really?" Mark questioned, thinking the stork was totally plausible for a four-year-old.

"Really. Where do babies come from?"

"Uh, well, um…" Mark stuttered, not knowing what to tell her.

"I'll take this one," Hannah offered.

"Be my guest," was Mark's reply.

"Babies are born when two people love each other a real lot. God decides that the people love each other enough to put a baby in the Mommy's tummy."

"Since you and my Daddy love each other, can't you have a baby now?"

"No, because the Mommy and Daddy need to want one first."

"Don't you want one?"

"Someday," was Hannah's simple response.

"When?" Lexi asked.

"I don't know. When I'm ready."

"So a baby's like magic?"

"Sort of," Hannah admitted.

"How come God knows if the people love each other?"

"They kiss a lot," Hannah said.

"Even more than you and Daddy kiss?" Lexi asked in a surprised tone, almost like it was impossible to imagine.

"Way more," said Mark, winking at Hannah.

"Then why doesn't OC have a baby?" Lexi asked innocently. This question made Hannah and Mark laugh hysterically, in part because of Lexis innocence, and in part because it was a perfectly good question that no one ever asked OC before. How did he not wind up with a kid already?

"Why don't you ask him later?" Mark suggested.

Later that night the guys went speed skating like they planned. Lexi stayed with Hannah and Kelly, who were going skating in the Olympics Village. It was nice that the guys had a little time to relax and take their minds off hockey for a while. With each game they were getting more nervous. They were all guilty of obsessively watching the scores from other games, to see where everyone else was in the standings. And now, they only had two more games until the Medal Round. One against Romania, and the other against West Germany. After those games, they would know when they would be playing the Soviets.

Herb tired to make the team concentrate on one game at a time, because they did have to make it to the Medal Round first. No matter what anyone admitted though, they were all thinking about their probable match up with the Soviets. The one thing the guys tried not to do though was watch the games other teams played against the Soviets. From the previous week in Madison Square Gardens, they knew what the team was capable of, and they didn't need any reminders.

A/N: Hope you all liked it. I know that Mark's injury really happened in the game against the Czechs, but with that game being Valentine's Day, there was already too much going on to have him get injured too. Also, as a side note, Eric Heiden and Mark Johnson really were friends. I was looking because I knew Heiden was from Madison, and I found out that they were childhood friends and Heiden went to his wedding (to his high school sweetheart) in real life. Neither of which I knew before I wrote this story. Just thought you would all like to know. Okay, now please review!! I'll really try harder to post sooner next time. There's only going to be like two chapters left though.


	26. God Bless America

NellieBly413672: Glad you liked it. I love writing awkward scenes, so I'm glad you like reading them! Enjoy this chapter too!

Meadow567: I'm glad you like Lexi. She's so much fin to write! Part of the reason I thought to write this story was because I wanted to write a cute little girl in it. I had cute ideas for Glory Days, but Izzy was only a few weeks old so it was hard to write those cute moments, because half of what makes Lexi cute are the things she says! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter too!

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this up. It seems like forever since I posted, and I know it probably even seems longer to you. Just to give everyone a brief recap of the last chapter...

Kelly met Mac's parents, which made for awkward moments during the Norway game. Mrk also got injured that game, so Hannah held out from having sex with him. Lexi begged Hannah to sleep over though, and the next morning at breakfast she told Mark and Hannah that she wants them to get married and so she could have a baby brother or sister. At the end of the chapter, the guys were anxious to play Romania and the West Germans to finish the prelims and go onto the Medal Round.

Now on to the chapter!

Wednesday night, the guys were both excited and getting nervous. They just beat the West Germans by two in a game that afternoon to finish the preliminary round. Now they just had to wait. The official announcement of when and who they were playing next was going to be made the next morning. It could only go one of two ways though.

If the Czechs beat Sweden in the game that started right after the guys played, the US would be first in their division. If the Swedes won, the US would be in second. In the other division, figuring things out was a bit trickier.

The guys decided to watch the Sweden-Czech game to see who they would likely be playing Friday night. About half of the team was cheering for the Swedes, because they hoped to play the Soviets first and get it out of the way, and the other half of the team wanted to put off playing the Soviets and cheered for the Czechs. Before they went to watch the game, Mac, OC, Bah, Verchota, and Mark ran into Herb in the hallway.

"Coach, who do you want to win tonight?" Verchota asked, like Herb's judgment would be a deciding vote or something.

"Czechs or Swedes?" Bah added.

Herb looked at the guys like they had three heads and Mac went on to explain the possible outcomes. "What the hell does it matter?" Herb asked simply. "We're playing the Soviets eventually no matter what." Herb then walked away as the guys then continued their on going debate.

By the start of the third period, the Swedes were winning three to two. The team also found out that Canada was only losing to the Soviets by one goal.

"Canada can't win," Verchota whined. "If they win, that throws everything off. Then Canada will be in first and the Czechs will have to win in order to play the Soviets first."

"Why do you want to play the Soviets first?" Mac wondered again. "I say save the best win for last."

"Because if we play the Soviets first, we have a better chance to medal no matter what happens."

"We have the same chance no matter what, Verchota," Rizzo told him.

"Personally, I'd rather get finished playing those guys as soon as possible," Bah said.

"I want to play them second," OC said, and then explained. "I want revenge, and Doc hasn't said anything about me playing yet. If we play them second, greater chances I'll get to play."

"What if you got to play against them anyway?" Mac wondered. "Would that change your mind?"

"Maybe, I don't know."

"Why are we worrying about things we can't control?" Mark wondered.

"You're just as guilty as us," Mac said. "You've made it very clear who you want to play in the second medal round game too. And you're the only one that went through every possible scenario, including ties and the very unlikely circumstances."

"Unlikely like Finland winning the rest of their games," Verchota mentioned as an example.

"Anything can happen," Mark said. Then, "And I never said I was innocent of figuring out standings, I jut asked why we're bothering. In less than hour, we'll know for sure."

The Swedes ended up beating the Czechs, putting the US team in second. Now the guys knew that if the Soviets won, they would be playing them first. If somehow, Canada won however, the US team would play Canada first.

"That settles it," Verchota began. "It looks like we're playing the beasts from the east first." Mac chuckled at the 'beasts from the east' expression.

"Not necessarily," Mark spoke up. "Only if the Soviets beat or tie Canada."

"Magic, you're wrong. Look at the standings. The Soviets have eight points. Canada has six. Teams get two points for wins, one for ties, and no points for loses."

"Yeah, and if Canada wins, they'll have the same points as the Soviets. Tie breakers are head to head. That would make Canada first in their division."

"How do you figure?" Verchota asked.

"Six plus two is eight and eight plus zero is eight," Mark stated simply, wondering how Verchota made it through elementary school.

"Oh yeah. Well, I guess I want to play the Soviets first then."

"You're not going to cheer for Canada now?" Mac asked. Technically, the Canada-Soviet game was still going on and Canada could win.

"No, I want to be the first team to beat them. If Canada wins, our team beating their asses will be less special."

"After getting beat 10-3 last week, trust me, beating them will still be special," OC commented.

The guys all went back to their hotel rooms after finding out the Soviets won, and they were all going to try to get a good night's sleep. The next day, they were having a short morning skate before spending the rest of the day relaxing and getting ready for their big game the following day.

Mark woke up with nerves forming in the pit of his stomach. Today was the day. Although the goal of playing in the Olympics was to medal; more specifically get a gold medal, the preparation for these Olympics entailed preparing for the inevitable game against the Soviets.

Mac woke up around the same time as Mark and although they both finished their normal morning routines of getting showered, dressed, and watching a little Sports Center, there was something different that day. Both guys, Mac especially, were unusually quiet. And Lexi wasn't even there to break the silence that morning. The night before, she stayed with Kelly and Hannah so the guys could get a good night sleep. Part of that was Herb's request.

At the morning skate the day before, Herb told them he was enforcing a curfew for that night, and he also expected them to stay sober and away from distractions. Although the 'distractions' Herb was referring to mainly targeted women, Mark thought Lexi was an implied distraction.

"I'm going to stop at the girl's room before breakfast. I want to see Lexi," Mark told Mac, breaking the silence.

"I'll go with you. I want to see-" Mac paused for a second, "Lexi too." Mark didn't say anything, but his guess was that Mac hoped to see someone other than Lexi.

Almost immediately after knocking, Lexi happily answered the door. "Daddy!" she said, hugging him tight.

"Hi sweetie."

"I made you a good luck card," Lexi said, handing him a card. On the front was a picture of two hockey players. Mark guessed the one was himself and the other was probably a Russian. Inside, the card said, 'Good luck Daddy. I hope you win and score. I love you.' There was also a picture of a gold medal and Lexi's attempt at drawing the Olympics rings.

"Thank you Lexi. I love it," Mark said, and picked his daughter up, then giving her a kiss.

Mark walked in the room with Mac close behind. Mark immediately went over to Hannah and put Lexi down so he could kiss his girlfriend. Mac awkwardly walked toward Kelly, and stopped several feet away from her.

"Good luck today, Mac," Kelly said.

"Thanks."

After a short awkward silence between the two, Kelly asked "Are you nervous?"

"Yeah," Mac admitted.

"You'll do great," Kelly said. Then, quietly, she added, "You always do."

Meanwhile, Mark and Hannah were having a moment of their own.

"How does your shoulder feel this morning?" Hannah asked, reaching up to massage it a little. In the previous game, Mark could play fine, but his shoulder was a little sore.

"Better. Today's the first morning it hasn't bothered me at least a little."

"I was sort of lonely last night," Hannah said, smiling shyly. "Lexi kept me company for sure, but I missed you. I was really getting used to waking up next to you in the morning." Even though Hannah and Mark sleeping together wasn't really a routine, seeing as it only happened twice since Valentine's Day, Hannah thought waking up next to her hot, smiling boyfriend was quite easy to get used to.

Mark smiled back. "I missed you too," he said, wrapping his arms around her neck. "And tonight you're definitely coming over," he added huskily, leaning toward Hannah to kiss her.

"You better win first," Hannah said after they pulled apart.

"You're coming over no matter what."

"You won't be in the mood if you lose," Hannah said knowingly.

"Hey, hey," Mac interrupted, having heard Hannah. "There'll be none of that talk."

"We better get going," Mark said. "I'll see you girls later."

"Good luck," Kelly and Hannah told both of them in unison.

"Good luck Daddy!" Lexi said, running over to give her dad one more hug.

"Thanks Lexi, I love you."

"I love you too."

"Aren't you going to say good luck to Mac too?" Kelly asked.

"Oh yeah," she said. "Good luck Mac too." She gave him a hug too.

"Thanks Munchkin."

Mark and Mac left to head to the rink. Even though it was still pretty early, considering their game wasn't until five, they had a lot to do to get ready. The guys were having breakfast as a team that morning, and then had a really light skate. After that, Herb was making them 'take naps' in their rooms. The guys didn't actually have to sleep, but Herb wanted them to rest and take it easy. At 2:30, they had to meet again in the locker room where they were going to have a snack and get dressed for the game.

Although Mark and Mac had been pretty quiet that morning, everyone was loud at breakfast. They were all excited for the game, and for most of them, the nerves hadn't set in yet. Once they got on the ice for their morning skate, that was when the realization set in. This game was huge. It was everything they spent the last seven months working for.

By 2:30, the guys were ready to get the game over with. Doc had orange slices, bananas, grapes, crackers, and pretzels for them, but hardly anyone ate anything. They were all too nervous to eat. By a little after three, almost all of the guys were already dressed. Other than rustling of hockey equipment, and an occasion comment, hardly anyone spoke. That is, until Verchota made a comment.

"Crap!" Everyone turned to Verchota to see what was wrong. "I put my right skate on first." After no one said anything in response, Verchota clarified what was wrong. "Last time I put my right skate on first we lost."

"Superstitious much?" asked Bah.

"Yeah. Don't you have pregame rituals you have to do?"

"I guess."

"So if we lose, we'll all know who to blame," OC said, coming into the room. He had been getting checked out by Doc to see if he could play.

"You playing?" asked Mark, noticing OC wasn't on crutches and was half dressed in hockey equipment.

"Yeah, Doc cleared me."

"That's great man," Mac said, giving him a high five and slap on the back.

By four, the guys were sitting in the locker room, which was now completely silent. Each guy was doing their own thing, whether it was praying, playing with tape, adjusting their skates and pads, but no one spoke a word.

Herb came in minutes later to give them a pep talk, and the team was ready to go. They guys walked out of the locker room and into the hallway, then waited until they were given the okay to go onto the ice. When they were given the go ahead, they skated out into an arena packed with screaming fans. The crowd was wild. Looking around, the guys couldn't believe how crowded it was already and how loud everyone was. It was almost hard to hear each other on the ice. At least they had a few minutes to get used to the loudness of the crowd before the game actually began.

The guys tried not to look intimidated when they took the ice for the opening face off. They were all nervous though. Shorty after the game began, the Soviets scored after getting away with a noticeable slash. After two more goals, one by each team, at the end of the first period, the guys were still only a goal down. Now it looked like they would go into the first intermission only down by one goal. Just then, Mark drove to the net to follow a shot by Christian. Getting the rebound, Mark shot the puck with one second left. The light went on as the buzzer sounded. Cheers erupted on the ice from the guys and in the stands.

As the team celebrated on the ice, Mark's family and everyone else were celebrating in the stands. "Daddy scored!" Lexi screamed.

Hannah hugged Lexi in excitement, and then hugged Kelly followed by Mark's Mom. Lexi was getting celebratory high fives from everyone around her, and complete strangers were hugging and high fiving with the excitement they felt.

"That was amazing!" Kelly said. "Never in a million years could I have imagined him scoring like that. "That was amazing," she said again.

"Oh my God," Hannah followed, also in disbelief. "We're tied. Ten days ago, we were already down by a few goals at this point."

When the guys came back out after the break, they were still high off the excitement Mark's goal had caused. Herb was excited too, and the guys could see that, but Herb also made it very clear that they needed to continue playing their game, and not get overly excited about one goal. After all, everyone knew there was still forty minutes of play.

Herb did want to keep the guys and their high though, and that was easily done when he saw that Tretiak was taken out of net.

The second period was a little less exciting seeing that the Soviets scored the lone goal. Almost halfway through the third however, Team USA's excitement was rejuvenated due to Mark scoring another goal during a power play. The game was tied again, and now Herb insisted on short shifts to keep everyone fresh. Most of the guys felt better than they ever had before though. At this rate, they all were feeling they could skate another few hours if this game was on the line. The adrenaline rushing through them gave them more energy and life than they ever had before.

That energy bursted from Rizzo as he jumped off the bench for a shift. He was open and got a pass from Pav. From 25 feet away, he shot and the puck went right passed Myshkin. Everyone went wild.

The team cleared the bench to celebrate, as Rizzo skated around the boards. The crowd was going wild. For the first time? The US was up by a goal. It was almost unbelievable.

After a short celebration, everyone knew there were still ten minutes to play. They had to focus and not give anything up for ten minutes.

"Go USA!" Lexi and many others yelled in the stands as time slowly dwindled down.

Hannah was jumping up and down a little, looking at the clock every ten seconds or so. Time was getting short, but not fast enough. She was having trouble watching. Kelly was biting her nails, wishing the clock would go to zero. Mark's mother was having trouble watching too. She keep looking around at other people in the crowd, then stopped doing that because the looks on the intent audiences faces was hard to watch as well.

At one point, during a tough segment when the Soviets were shooting a lot, Kelly turned around to face backwards and said, "I can't watch. Lexi, tell me when it's over."

"You'll know when it's over because the buzzer goes off," Lexi said simply.

Kelly just laughed to herself at Lexi's comment.

"I can't believe there's still three minutes left," Hannah said. "It seems like Rizzo scored hours ago."

"Go Mac!" Lexi said.

Kelly turned around immediately, thinking Mac had the puck and was about to do something exciting. When she realized Lexi began saying 'Go –insert name here-' for whoever had the puck, she turned around again to face the other way. She really couldn't watch.

The guys were having trouble too. They watched, because they had, but they were watching the clock just as much. They couldn't afford to make one mistake… nothing that could jeopardize their lead at least.

"One minute," Mac said from the bench. An eternity later, thirty seconds were left. As the guys on the bench watched the clock, some screamed, some hit their sticks against the boards, some were silent and trying to believe what was happening.

"Twelve second s left, oh my God," Hannah said, getting Kelly's attention to turn around. The crowd began the countdown.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…"

The announcer could be heard, but barely, over the deafening crowd. "Five seconds left… Do you believe in Miracles? Yes!"

As time expired, the guys rushed the ice. The buzzer couldn't even really be heard over the excited players and fans. If people were happy with the tying goal two periods before, they were ecstatic now. Words couldn't even describe the excitement and joy everyone felt.

"We won!" Lexi shouted. "We beat them!" Even she was excited, and she didn't realize the full effect of the game. To her, it was just game and she knew the Soviets were a little tougher than most.

Strangers hugged each other again and celebrated as the guys on the team hugged each other as well, skating around the ice, screaming and in disbelief. The scene was surreal. They really beat the Soviets.

After the guys were showered and changed, the excitement still hadn't worn off. The mood in the locker room was unlike ever before. Someone started singing "God Bless America" and everyone joined in. Most of the guys didn't even know the words, but they were too happy and excited to care that they were off key and sounded ridiculous.

Once they were all finished and ready to leave, the exited the locker room to see excited friends and family members. There weren't any reporters down there, but the guys were pretty sure they would have to ward off photographers at some point.

Hannah was the first to greet Mark upon his leaving the locker room. She just ran up and hugged him. He hugged her back, and only pulled away when Lexi came over.

"Daddy, you won! And you scored. Good job." Mark smiled and picked her up, then gave her a kiss.

"I still can't believe it," he said, to Hannah and the rest of his family, who were now nearby. "Reality hasn't sunk in yet."

"Oh, it will eventually," Kelly told him.

"Celebration dinner on us?" Mark's mother asked. She wanted to take out the family for a nice dinner to celebrate the win.

"Sure, I'm meeting the guys later on though."

Mark's family went to a restaurant in the Olympic Village and happened to run into Mac, OC, and Jimmy's families there too. They all sat sort of together, pulling tables around and rearranging the restaurant. No one cared too much though, because the workers all knew who they were and even though the game wasn't broadcasted yet, they all heard about the win.

After dinner, the guys left to head to a bar down the street where they were meeting the rest of the team. Hannah, Kelly, and Jenny, who were all at dinner, went with them. Lexi begged Mark to let her come too, but she ended up staying with Mark's parents.

At the bar, the guys were all still high on the excitement off their win. They watched the replay of their game on TV there. Verchota, Bah, and a couple other guys were acting silly and decided to pretend they didn't know what would happen in the end. They were acting as if they were just spectators and didn't know who won yet. So every time a goal was scored, a nice save was made, or anything else exciting happened, they cheered or booed appropriately.

After the game, they showed the celebration on the ice, and Verchota had a close up shot on camera.

"Wow, I look pretty good out there, huh boys?"

"You look like you just finished playing a hockey game," OC commented. Verchota had been drenched with sweat and looked far from good on the camera.

"I'm sure you'll have a line of girls waiting for you when you go back home," Mac said, trying to give Verchota what he wanted to hear.

"You all will," Kelly commented from her spot next to Mac.

"And we all don't need a line of girls," Mac said, putting his arm around her shoulder.

OC heard his comment and just gave Mac and Kelly a look. He noticed that they had been really close all night. He didn't think they were together, but now he wasn't so sure. OC knew Mac was a little drunk though, so maybe it was the alcohol. He'd have to ask Mark if he knew anything later on.

Once the guys were done celebrating, most went back to their rooms to celebrate some more. Well, the ones with girlfriends anyway. Mark and Hannah went back to Mark's room.

"You played absolutely amazing," Hannah told Mark for what seemed like the millionth time that night. "When you scored that goal in the last second of the period, I wanted to scream – that's my man!" Mark laughed.

"You could have. But it was so deafening load in there no one would have heard you."

"True," Hannah agreed. She wrapped her arms around his neck before giving him a long kiss. "I love you."

"How much?" Mark asked, pulling away a little and raising his eyebrows.

"I could tell you…but showing you would be much more fun," Hannah said, pulling him toward the bed.

Since Mac's room was taken, Mac decided to crash in Kelly's room. He already knew it was okay with her. Walking back to the hotel, Mac knew Kelly was drunk. He was drunk too, but not as bad. She was all over Mac, holding onto him and acting totally unlike Kelly – even the new Kelly.

Mac considered the 'new' Kelly as the Kelly that admitted to liking Mac. She seemed so much happier now. When he'd first met her, Kelly seemed dark and cynical about everything.

"What are we gonna do back in the room?" Kelly slurred, smiling at Mac.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. He would love to have some fun – seeing as he was in a celebratory mood and it was probably the last chance they would have together. But at the same time, Mac didn't want to take advantage of the situation. Especially because Kelly's mood could change in a second and she could turn into a bitch again. That side of her scared Mac. "What do you have in mind?"

Kelly didn't answer, but just smiled and kept walking with Mac. Mac decided he would just let everything play out as the night went on.

The next morning, the guys were all at breakfast as Mark and OC joined the table as the last ones.

"Sorry we're late," Mark apologized. "It's OC's fault. He told me to hold the elevator, then made me wait while he went back inside to get something. I didn't realize he went back in to get laid."

"I did not!" OC said in defense. He knew Mark was only teasing though. "And we're not the last ones here, so it doesn't even matter."

"Who else isn't here?" Verchota wondered, not realizing someone else was missing.

"Mac."

"He's probably still sleeping. I think he had a pretty late night last night," Silky said hinting, at something because of how cozy he was with Kelly all night.

"He left the bar when I was leaving," Mark said.

"Yeah, and him and Kelly were probably-" Bah was cut off after getting kicked by Buzz. "Ow."

Mark just turned away and started talking to Rizzo about something else, not taking picking up on anything. Some of the guys weren't sure how Mark would take it if Mac and Kelly slept together. Little did they know, Mark wouldn't have cared at all.

A half hour later, when the guys were mostly done with breakfast, Mac finally came down.

"Look who decided to finally show up," Bah commented.

"Look who decided to finally get his ass out of bed is more like it," Silky added.

"What were you doing all night?" asked OC.

Mac ignored the guys and sat down, putting his head in his hands and began massaging his temples.

"I feel so sick right now," He complained.

"What the hell did you do last night?" asked OC.

Mac explained that he was hung over after having way too much to drink. He couldn't remember much of what had happened after getting back to the room with Kelly. They drank some more to celebrate, and the next thing he knew, he woke up next to her in the morning.

"You don't remember if you slept with her?" OC asked quietly, not wanting Mark to hear.

"No. When I woke up, she was half dressed and so was I… so I have no clue."

"Is she still sleeping?"

"She was," Mac answered. "She was more wasted than me so I don't know if she would remember anything either."

OC just laughed at Mac's misfortune as Mac took a swig of water and swallow the two pills Silky handed him.

The next morning, the guys were all feeling pretty good, including Mac. He felt much better than the previous night. The only thing bothering him now was that he hadn't seen much of Kelly since waking up with her.

He had hoped to see her the night before for a little while, but after the team got back from dinner, they had a curfew set by Herb and couldn't go out. Before heading to breakfast and the rink, Kelly, Hannah, and Lexi stopped by Mac and Mark's room to wish the guys good luck.

While Mark, Hannah, and Lexi were having a moment in the room, Kelly pulled Mac outside to talk. He wanted to discuss what happened the night they may or may not have had sex, even though he feared the conversation would be awkward and may possibly end badly.

"Kelly, I'm sorry," Mac said as they stepped into the hallway. "I shouldn't have taken advantage when you were drunk, but please don't be mad. The only reason-"

Kelly cut Mac's apology off. "So we did have sex then," she stated, though she sounded almost unsure, but to Mac's surprise, not angry.

"Isn't that why you brought me out here? To yell at me?" Mac wondered.

"No, I didn't know we had sex. I just wanted to ask if you remembered anything."

"Oh," Mac said. He had only apologized because he thought Kelly was mad. She didn't talk to him at all the day before. "Well, I actually don't know if we had sex," Mac admitted.

Kelly smiled. "That's good to know." Mac gave her a funny look. "I don't mean that we didn't have sex," she continued. "I mean it's good to know because I thought… well, I thought… this is going to sound really stupid."

"Try me," he challenged.

Kelly's face turned red. "I thought that maybe you were avoiding me yesterday because it wasn't good… because_ I_ wasn't good."

Mac breathed almost a sigh of relief. "Oh my God, no. I was avoiding you because I thought you were mad." They both laughed a minute. "So… you don't know if we actually had sex either?"

Kelly shook her head. "I don't think we did. I sort of remember you saying you weren't doing anything when we were that drunk. When I woke up, I thought I dreamt it, but now I don't think I did. Being the gentleman you are, I don't think you let anything happen."

"You probably dreamt it. I only act gentlemanly… well, really never. At least I never have before," Mac said. Kelly smiled.

"I think you're a nice guy. Besides, don't you think one of us would be memorable enough for the other… even if we were drunk out of our minds?"

"Maybe."

"I think I would have remembered," Kelly said.

"Are you saying you think I'd be unforgettable?"

"I guess," Kelly said, and an awkward silence followed. "So are you glad we didn't?" Kelly asked.

"No," Mac said. "Well, yes," he then said. Then he changed his mind again and explained. "I'm not glad we didn't, but it's not like I wish we had either."

"Can you promise me something?" Kelly asked, out of the blue.

"What?"

"Promise no matter what, we'll stay friends. After all of this is over today, and after we go our separate ways, promise we'll at least stay on friends and not let our different lives change that."

"Okay," Mac said easily. He definitely didn't want Kelly to completely leave his life after tonight.

"I'm gonna miss you," Kelly said. "As a friend," she added quickly, not wanting him to think she was the clingy girl type.

Mac wrapped her in a big hug. "None of that now," he told her. "We have plenty of time for good-byes later, but we still have several more hours until then."

Just then, Mark opened the door and came outside with the two girls in tow. "Ready to go win a medal?"

"Hell, yeah!" Mac said, shooting a smile at Kelly.


	27. As the Years Go By

NellieBly413672: Glad you liked it. It's fun to write Herb sometimes, because he's funny without actually trying to be, lol. Enjoy this one too and thanks for the review!

Meadow567: Thanks. I'm glad you liked it and enjoy this one too!

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I know it's been months and there's no good excuse. I've had so much to do between finishing up school, getting ready to graduate, working, vacation, and getting ready to start Med School. On top of that, I had so many setbacks with this chapter it's not even funny. After spending more than five hours on it and being one scene away from being done, I lost the whole thing. Anyway, you're probably lucky I got it up at all, lol. Anyway, it's been so long that I'll remind everyone what happened last chapter. Most importantly, the guys beat the Soviets. The chapter ended the morning of the Finland game with Mac and Kelly promising to stay friends after the Olympics ended (that day). I think that pretty much sums it up. Without further adieu, here's the chapter.

The guys went on to play Finland and the game began like most of the other ones in the Olympics had. By the end of the first period, Finland was up by one. Now the team really needed to come out strong in the second period. After all, if they lost this game, the US team would end with a bronze in third place and although they beat the Soviets, the Soviets would come out on top. Herb reminded them of this between period, and the guys came out with new life and stronger motivation in the second. After an early penalty to Rammer for roughing and a successful penalty kill, Christoff scored unassisted shortly into the period. Unfortunately, it seemed Finland was just as desperate to win as the US. Verchota went in the box on a slash, and Finland scored thirty seconds later on a power play. Things didn't look much better at the end of the period either. The US was ending the second period a goal down.

"What's going on with them?" Kelly wondered out loud, mainly talking to herself.

Hannah answered anyway. "They've started every game like this. And they're only a goal down. A lot can happen in twenty minutes."

"Well, I'm glad you're so sure. I'm definitely having my doubts. They're not playing like they usually do. They really look like something's off."

"They're playing fine," Hannah argued. "They've still got time. Just because they're down a goal doesn't mean they're not playing well."

"They're getting stupid penalties," Kelly reasoned.

"_One_ of them was stupid and shouldn't have happened," Hannah told her. "They've been in the box the same number of times as Finland."

"Ugh, I know," Kelly admitted.

"I hope Daddy scores," Lexi commented.

"I'm sure he'll try to score one for you Lexi," Hannah told the little girl. Lexi looked so cute dressed in all red, white, and blue, waving a little flag around. She looked like it was the fourth of July. In fact, most of the crowd looked festively dressed for the fourth.

After what seemed like a long intermission, the third and final period began.

Two and a half minutes into the period, Jimmy made a nice save off a hard shot from the corner. The deflection went right to Christian, who immediately looked down the ice at an open Verchota. To avoid icing, Christian took the puck down the ice and passed it to Verchota who one-timed it. Score!

The crowd went wild; the US team was right back in it with over seventeen minutes left to go. Mark's line was on the ice next. Christian stole the puck from a Finland player and passed it up to Mark. Mark crossed center ice and was going to take it in himself. Just as he was making it to the net, a Finland defender made it back down in time to stop him from shooting. The defender couldn't stop Mark from passing though, and he passed it to Mac who scored with a quick wrist shot. Again, the crowd went wild. Now they were up by one. Dampening the mood a little was a Finland breakaway and subsequent US penalty. Broten went in the box for hooking after preventing a Finish player from shooting. Two minutes later, the penalty kill ended, only to be followed by another after Christian went in the box for tripping. Twelve minutes to go, and they had to make it through another penalty. Jimmy had amazing saves in net to keep his team up by one. Hopefully that would be the last penalty for the US team. No one knew how much more they could take while staying ahead.

With just under six minutes left though, Verchota was put in the box for roughing. Herb looked like he might have killed Verchota had he been closer to him. He called a timeout to have the guys regroup before having to go through another penalty kill. The timeout was a good idea, because Mark scored less than a minute later off a pass from Christoff. It looked like Mark's goal may be the solidifier in the game. Finland went on to pull their goalie with just over a minute left. Jimmy's strong goal tending, and the strong defensive plays held the US team ahead two goals and they finished the game 4 to 2.

The atmosphere was amazing. It was almost as if no one believed the US team was able to pull it off. People were crying, screaming, cheering, hugging, and kissing. They really did it – they won the gold!

The medal ceremony was beautiful and it made their great accomplishment that much more real. Hannah, Kelly, Lexi, and all of the other parents, siblings, and friends were so proud to see the team singing the National Anthem with gold medals hanging around their necks. Everyone could tell the guys were proud of themselves too. And everyone could tell how happy Herb was. He looked like a proud father of the guys, and he showed more emotion at the medal ceremony than he did in the last seven months combined. He wasn't just happy he was finally able to say he got the gold either, but he was so honored to be part of the great moment and it was so rewarding to have twenty guys as proud of their accomplishment as he was of them.

Two months later…

"I'll get it!" Lexi said as she and Mark entered their apartment to a ringing phone. They were just coming home after Mark finished practice and picked Lexi up from school. "Hi," Lexi said, as if she already knew who was calling.

After a minute of listening to one side of the conversation his daughter was having, Mark knew who was on the phone.

"Here Daddy," Lexi said after talking a minute more.

"Hey babe," Mark said after taking the phone from his daughter. It was Hannah.

Mark and Hannah talked for about ten minutes, just about their days and what was going on in general. They routinely talked almost everyday, and even though actually seeing each other would be ideal, at least they could talk all the time.

"So you're still coming up to visit in a few weeks, right?" Mark asked, hoping he would still be able to see Hannah soon.

"Definitely. And I can't wait," Hannah replied. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," Mark said.

"Daddy, I'm hungry," Lexi called. "Are you gonna make spaghetti soon?"

"Yeah, soon sweetie," Mark said, and then apologized to Hannah for the interruption. "Lexi's hungry," he explained.

"I'll let you go. I just can't wait to see you," she said.

"Daddy, I'm gonna make it myself," Lexi threatened, and Mark cringed as he heard the sound of noodles being poured into the pan.

"Lexi's going to attempt making dinner herself if I don't hurry up," Mark told Hannah.

"With my teaching, she'd probably do a better job alone than with your help," Hannah joked.

"You're probably right," Mark agreed. "But just in case, I really don't want the apartment to go up in flames so soon after moving in."

"Okay, I love you and I'll talk to you soon," Hannah told her boyfriend.

"Love you too. Bye," Mark said, hanging up the phone and quickly making his way into the kitchen to help Lexi.

Over that next summer, Hannah finally moved in with Mark and Lexi. Pittsburgh was a nice city, and she got used to it fast. Hannah was lucky and got a teaching job almost right away, and by Christmas, she was completely settled in at their apartment in Pittsburgh. Not only was she completely settled in, but Hannah really felt like a part of their family. She felt more like Lexi was her own daughter everyday. Christmas was the first she was able to make it back home to see her family. The three of them went to Minnesota and Wisconsin for the few days Mark had off. It was a pretty quick trip, but it was nice to get to spend the holidays with both of their families.

Christmas Eve was spent with the Johnson's at Mark's parent's house. That night while everyone was opening gifts, Mark pulled Hannah away to give her her gifts. The first was in a large shirt box. Hannah opened it and found papers inside.

"What are these?" she wondered aloud before reading them. They looked like official documents and across the top the "State of Wisconsin Department of Human Services" was printed. Leafing through, Hannah realized what was going on and got tears in her eyes. "Oh my God," she said, looking up at Mark. "Are these what I think they are?"

"Yes," Mark said. "Adoption papers. If you sign them, Lexi will officially be your daughter."

"Oh my God," Hannah said. Then it sank in. "But didn't Rebecca have to sign something saying she was giving up her parental rights?

"Yeah, and she did. Remember that week I was on the west coast road trip?" Mark asked. Hannah nodded, how could she have forgotten? They had a huge argument because of it.

_Hannah tucked Lexi in one night while Mark was on a road trip with Lexi practically being in tears. It was late for Lexi to be up on a school night, almost ten; but Lexi never went to sleep before she talked to her dad. That night Hannah knew there was no game, but Mark never called to say goodnight to Lexi. Lexi tried calling him several times as well. _

_"Do you want to try once more?" Hannah asked. Lexi nodded. "Okay, let's go."_

_After dialing the number of the hotel and giving Lexi the phone, she patiently waited._

_"Hi," Lexi said. "Is my Daddy there?" After the person on the other end responded, Lexi said, "Okay, but he needs to call me. When will he be back?" After Lexi started arguing with who Hannah assumed was Mark's roommate, she decided it was time to step in and took the phone._

_"Where's Mark?" she asked, a little less than politely. Hannah was getting slightly fed up with this._

_"Not here," the roommate responded._

_"Where is he?"_

_"He's…out," the guy replied after a slight hesitation, as if deciding what to say._

_"Out?" Hannah said. "That's the best you can do? Fine. Tell him that next time he decides to go out, he better keep in mind that his little girl is waiting for a phone call." With that, Hannah hung up._

_She was pissed, and it didn't subside the next morning when Mark called bright and early. They argued on the phone about how Mark needed to put Lexi first. That led to another conversation about where he really was the night before. Whatever it was was obviously more important than Lexi._

_"Are you accusing me of something?" Mark asked incredulously._

_"Are you admitting to something?" Hannah shot back. "It's one thing if you don't call me. It's another to not call your little girl. She was expecting a phone call." They continued arguing about that point and Hannah was ready to hang up. "Maybe tonight you could call before you go out wherever it is that you go without your roommate."_

_"I don't understand why you don't trust me!" Mark yelled._

_"Because you're lying. I thought you would have learned your lesson not to lie to me Mark Johnson!"_

_Their argument was over once Mark got home. He apologized profusely and Hannah forgave him. Lexi had forgiven Mark the minute she talked to him that next morning on the phone. Hannah admitted that she let things get out of hand as well, and both agreed that it was unnecessary to go back and forth on the phone like they did. Hannah completely trusted Mark, though she never found out where he was that night._

"Okay," Mark started. "The reason I was out and honestly, sort of forgot to call, was because I was with Rebecca. I was trying to get her to sign the papers. I didn't want to keep it from you, and the only reason I did was so that I didn't disappoint you. I wasn't sure Rebecca would sign the forms, and I know you wanted to adopt Lexi even if you never directly said it. If I told you and Rebecca didn't sign the forms, which was a definite possibility, I know you would be devastated."

"Wow. So you've known all this time?" Hannah said. Mark's west coast road trip was a month ago.

"No, my lawyer called three days ago to tell me Rebecca's lawyer faxed the signed forms over. All I needed to do was have you sign them."

"This is the best Christmas present ever!" Hannah said, giving Mark a huge hug.

"Hopefully you're going to eat your words after the next one," Mark said with a laugh.

"There's more?" Mark nodded and pulled out a small box. Hannah immediately realized what it most likely was.

"Oh my God," she half whispered as Mark got down on one knee. As Hannah realized exactly what was happening, she got tears in her eyes.

"Hannah, I love you more than I can even begin to tell you. You're amazing and I can't imagine not having you in my life. Not only are you an amazing girlfriend, but you're an amazing mother to Lexi. I hope that we can have an even bigger family someday, and I want spend the rest of my life with you as my wife. Hannah, will you marry me?"

By this time, Hannah was full out crying. "I love you," Hannah said, wrapping her arms around Mark's neck. After a second, she pulled away. "Yes, by the way," she added with a laugh, realizing she never really answered the question. She wiped her wet face with the back of her hand and looked at the ring Mark was now placing on her finger. It was beautiful, and totally perfect for her.

Lexi now walked over to the couple. "So are you going to be my Mommy now?" she asked.

"Yes sweetie," Hannah told her. "I'll be your Mommy."

"Why are you crying?" Lexi asked, with a curious tone.

"Because I'm happy," Hannah said, and smiled at Mark. "Really, really happy."

"You're not supposed to cry then," Lexi told her matter-of-factly.

Hannah just laughed and wiped her face again. "Okay," she told Lexi. "I'll stop crying."

The following August, Mark, Hannah, and Lexi were back in Minnesota for the wedding. Mark's family was all flying in from Wisconsin, and a lot of Mark's teammates came. It was really nice seeing everyone from the Olympic team again. Almost everyone made it there.

A few days before the wedding were the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Hannah wasn't feeling that great all day, and unfortunately she didn't feel better that evening for the party. Mark was worried that Hannah was starting to get cold feet, but Hannah knew that wasn't it. It almost felt like the flu. She would have never suspected anything else, until Kelly put an idea in her head that night. Now she began thinking the headaches, nausea, and backache was something else entirely. After stopping at the store after the party, she went back to the hotel. A little while after Lexi went to bed, Hannah curled up next to Mark, who was reading a magazine at the time.

"Are you feeling any better?" Mark asked, concerned.

"A little bit. At least I know what's wrong now."

"What is it?" he asked. "Do you think you'll be okay by Saturday?"

"Well, I think I'll be having good days and bad days, but overall, it's nothing that won't go away in nine months," Hannah said with a big smile.

"Do you mean… I mean… are you pregnant?" Mark asked, a smile emerging on his face.

Hannah nodded. She wasn't exactly sure how Mark would take the news. After all, they were getting married in a couple days, but they hadn't discussed when they wanted to start a family.

"So you're okay with this then?" Hannah asked.

"Of course. Are you kidding?" Mark asked. "I'm thrilled," he said, obviously genuinely happy. "I'm shocked," he admitted, "but thrilled."

"Okay. I was only wondering because we never talked about it." Hannah knew they both wanted more kids, but she just assumed that they hadn't discussed when exactly because they weren't married. They also had a lot on their minds with planning the wedding since getting engaged.

"So you're really pregnant?" Mark asked, as though it still hadn't sunken in yet.

"Yeah. I haven't gone to the doctor's yet, because I didn't even think I was until your sister put the idea in my head earlier tonight."

"I can't believe it. I mean, I knew it was a possibility I guess, but it never occurred to me that it would happen again. Well… I knew it was bound to happen eventually, but I never thought it would be before we were married. Not that I'm opposed to it at all, because I'm obviously not, I have Lexi. It's just, what are the chances it would happen again before we were married?" Mark rambled.

"You're obviously a very fertile man," Hannah joked.

"This is incredible," Mark said, attacking Hannah with a kiss and knocking her backwards onto the bed. Hannah laughed while trying to kiss Mark back. As soon as she stopped laughing enough to kiss him, he pulled away and asked, "So are we telling everyone during the wedding or reception or what?"

"I don't know. I almost think we should wait. Not because I don't want people to know, but I think our wedding day should be about us as a couple. If we tell people about the baby, more focus will be on that. I just think we should have time to enjoy it ourselves first. Plus, I don't know how far along I am or anything. I don't want to be bombarded with questions I can't answer. We should probably see the doctor before we start telling everyone. Plus, I've heard it's bad luck to tell people during the first trimester."

"Okay, that's fine with me. And when we decide to start telling people, I think Lexi should be one of the first to know," Mark added.

"Okay," Hannah agreed. "I can't wait to tell her she's having a baby brother or sister. She'll be so excited!"

"You better wait to tell her. If she finds out, I guarantee everyone else will know within the hour."

"You have to give Lexi more credit than that. After all, she's kept a few secrets over the years."

"Yeah, and there's always a price attached," Mark added with a laugh, being reminded of the bribes he had to make over the years. His biggest cost yet was the proposal, which happened accidentally.

_"I'm so nervous," Mark told his dad early Christmas Eve Day as the father and son were in the kitchen attempting to make breakfast. "I don't even know why – I'm ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent sure she'll say yes. What do you think of the ring?" Mark then asked._

_"Beautiful," Bob responded, admiring the ring. "I was feeling the same way as you when I planned my proposal. Certain of the answer but nervous as hell."_

_Just then, a third person came wandering into the kitchen. "What's your proposal, Grandpa?" Lexi asked. Then, "Ooo, what's that?!" about the ring._

_"When I asked your Grandma to marry me," Bob replied to the first question._

_"Is that what Daddy's asking to Hannah?"_

_Mark gave his father a "don't tell her" look, but his father wasn't paying attention._

_"Yes he is. And that's what this pretty ring is for."_

_Lexi walked closer to her grandpa to get a good look at the ring._

_"Lexi, you can't tell Hannah about this. It's a surprise."_

_"This is a big secret," Lexi said._

_"Yeah, it is," Mark said seriously._

_"Are you asking today?" she asked._

_"Yep, later tonight."_

_"That'll be ten dollars then."_

_"Lexi," Mark sighed. Just because he bribed Lexi to keep secrets a few times, now she thought she always got money for keeping secrets._

_"Hannah!" Lexi called loudly. Hannah was upstairs._

_"Fine, ten dollars," Mark agreed quickly._

_"Per hour," Lexi said._

_"What?!" Mark said in disbelief._

_"I need to make my money somehow. And considering there are a lot of hours until tonight, I need a lot to keep me quiet."_

_Mark did the math quickly in his head. It was eight now, so he would owe Lexi at least 120 dollars. Wonderful, he thought._

Mark was never sure if Lexi would keep secrets without the bribes, but everything so far has been too important to try. At least Lexi didn't really spend money yet. After a while, Mark just put it in the bank for her. What a good start to her college savings.

The wedding ended up being beautiful, and so many people came. It was especially nice that so many of the guys from the Olympic team could make it. Mark had played against many of the over the past year, but Hannah hadn't seen them, and not all went into the NHL. Like Mark, many of the other guys were settling down now. Even OC had a serious girlfriend. He and Jenny were still good friends though; practically best friends. No one ever really understood their weird relationship, but they did and that was all that mattered.

Mac and Kelly were also both doing well, though not together. Each of them was in a relationship, and they were both happy. They did have a somewhat awkward moment at the wedding though.

For the few days before the wedding, they saw quite a bit of each other, yet there was so much to do, they didn't get chance to talk much. The reception was the first chance they had to really talk, and they began by literally running into each other.

"Sorry," Mac said, bumping into Kelly while going to get a drink. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Hey Mac," Kelly said. Mac hadn't realized who he bumped into at first.

"Hey, how's it gong?" he asked.

"Pretty good. You?"

"I've been good," he said. After a few seconds of silence, Kelly's boyfriend cleared his throat as if waiting to be introduced.

"Sorry," Kelly mumbled. "This is Steve. Steve, this is Mac."

"You're one of Mark's friends from the Olympic team right?"

"Yep," he affirmed. Then he introduced his girlfriend. "This is Sara. Sara this is Kelly, Mark's sister."

"Hi Kelly," she said, shaking her hand. From the respective significant others meeting Mac and Kelly, it was clear neither had ever mentioned anything that might have happened between them just over a year prior.

"So…" Kelly said, trying to break a sudden awkward silence. "What happened to staying in touch?" she asked Mac.

"I guess we didn't do a very good job at that, did we?" Kelly shook her head. "Oh well. Too late for that now I guess," Mac added, half under his breath. Luckily no one heard him. He didn't even mean to let a comment like that escape his mouth. He was happy now. Plus, Kelly and him would have never been able to stay friends. He knew there was almost too much between them in a sense.

After parting, Kelly and Mac went to enjoy more of the reception with their significant others, and ran into each other again later on.

"Hey," Kelly said. "Having fun?"

"Yeah. It's great seeing everyone again," Mac said.

"Yeah, you probably haven't seen the guys in a while."

"You're right, I haven't. It's been nice seeing other people too though," Mac said, locking eyes with Kelly.

Kelly blushed and looked away. Mac realized what he was doing and knew he needed to stop. He sort of changed the subject.

"So, you look really happy now," he commented.

"I am," Kelly said. "Steve's great." Kelly chose her next words very carefully. "We've been together about ten months now, and I can really say he's the first _boyfriend_ I feel like I can possibly spend the rest of my life with." Kelly's emphasis on boyfriend went unnoticed by Mac. Kelly was trying to point out the fact that he wasn't the first person she felt this way about, and only the first guy she dated that she felt that way about.

"I feel the same way about Sara too," Mac said. "We met on my first week in Buffalo. She showed me around town, and after becoming friends, we decided we wanted more. A year later, we're still happy together and I think it'll be forever." Mac debating adding something to the effect of I wish we stayed friends though, meaning himself and Kelly, but decided against it. He knew there would have been too much sexual tension for them to have remained friends.

"I wish we would have stayed in touch," Kelly said for him. "I miss having you as a friend."

"We're still sort of friends."

"Just because my brother is your friend, doesn't make us friends," Kelly said.

"That's why I said sort of."

Kelly just laughed a little and said, "You haven't changed a bit."

Nine months to the day after the wedding, Hannah gave birth to a baby boy in May of 1982. Christopher William was born in Minnesota right as NHL playoffs were starting. The Johnsons were living in Bloomington, Minnesota now after Mark was traded to the Wild about halfway through the season. Lexi loved having a baby brother, and she was always trying to help take care of him like he was hers. She thought that because she was six she was old enough to take care of Chris.

Over the next several years, the Johnsons moved quite a bit for Mark's hockey career, but it didn't stop him and Hannah from having a daughter too. Amanda Marie was born in July of 1985, just two days after Kelly's second baby, Joshua Daniel. Kelly's first, Jacob Matthew, was born in April of 1983.

Late in August, just before Mark had to start training camp, his family all got together for one last summer picnic at his parent's house. The newest additions to both Mark and Kelly's families were six weeks old now, and as cute as could be. The kids were all playing together while Mark, Hannah, Kelly, and Alexandra and Bob Johnson were enjoying some snacks while watching the kids.

"It's so cute how Lexi acts like a mom to all the kids when they're playing together," Kelly commented. Lexi, now a few months shy of nine, was old enough that the younger kids all looked up to her and listened to her. Chris was three, her cousin Jake was two, and then there were the two babies. At least now she had a sister too, because Mark was a little worried that Lexi would start dressing Chris up in her dance costumes and giving him makeovers. In a couple years, she could do that with her sister.

"Mommy," Jake said, running over to Kelly. "When will Daddy be here?"

"Soon, sweetheart," Kelly told Jake. "Play basketball with Lexi for now."

"But she can't help me make baskets," he protested.

"I'll play with you buddy," Mark said, getting up to play with the kids. Kelly watched her son play with her brother, and smiled at her adorable son. Jake was the perfect combination of Kelly and her husband – he had Kelly's dark hair and his father's chocolate brown eyes, along with his black Irish dark skin color. It was Kelly's guess that Josh would take more after her. So far the little hair he had was a shade lighter, his skin was a little lighter like Kelly's, and his eyes matched Kelly's hazel ones exactly. A few minutes later, Kelly knew her husband had arrived, because Jake sprinted over to be the first to greet him.

Two weeks before Christmas in 1987, Kelly was at the mall with her kids, doing some Christmas shopping. While the boys ran ahead to look in the toy store, Kelly was following behind and noticed a familiar face walking the opposite way.

"Mac?" Kelly asked. She knew it was him, because he looked the same; she was just surprised to see him.

"Kelly?" Oh my God - it's good to see you," he said, giving her a hug.

"It's good to see you too," Kelly said. "How have you been?"

"Great. How about you?"

"Same as you. So what are you doing in Minnesota? Last I heard you were in New York playing for the Rangers."

"I actually retired two years ago because of injuries. It got to be too much. I work at Morgan Stanley in St. Paul now."

"Wow, you've been in St. Paul for two years and I didn't even know," Kelly said.

"Wait – what are you doing in Minnesota? I thought you lived near your parents in Wisconsin."

"I moved here about two years ago too." Kelly moved to Minnesota with Steve and the boys because of Steve's job. Kelly found a job in Minnesota as well, and was settled there.

Just then, Jake ran out of the store and over to Kelly.

"Mommy, can I buy something?"

"No, sweetie. You know I'm not buying you anything before Christmas. Santa won't know what to get you if I buy you toys now."

"Aww, fine," Jake said with a pout, knowing his mom was right.

"Hey, you're supposed to be with your brother. You can just wander off and leave him," Kelly said.

"He's right in the window, I can see him from here," Jake responded before running back into the store. Kelly just shook her head and smiled.

"Wow, so you have two kids," Mac said awkwardly.

"Yep. Jake's four and Josh is two."

Mac didn't know how to ask his next question, but figured out a way to do it without sounding nosy. "So is it safe to say you ended up marrying Steve?" He assumed she had because if her oldest was four, that meant Kelly had him a little over a year after the wedding.

"I did," Kelly said, though not going any further on that note. "Are you and Sara still together?" Kelly asked. For some reason, Kelly had an inkling that he wasn't married even without looking at his left hand.

"No. We wanted different things and went our separate ways. It wasn't meant to be."

Kelly nodded in understanding. She didn't know whether to tell him her most recent news, but decided against it. Little did she know, Mac's next statement would bring that news to light.

"So, how is Steve doing?"

Kelly could have given a basic answer, but instead made a classic Kelly remark.

"He's _doing_ alright… at least one or two other women a week." The comment shocked Mac, and suddenly he wished he hadn't wanted to know why she wasn't wearing a wedding ring. Right after they spotted each other and began talking, Mac noticed Kelly wasn't wearing a ring. Until he saw her kids and she said she married Steve, he thought she was possibly single. Then he was even more confused about not seeing a ring. With her latest comment, he felt guilty for asking.

"Sorry," Kelly immediately said. "That was more than you needed to know. We're not together anymore. We've been divorced for nearly a year."

"I'm sorry," Mac said sincerely. "I shouldn't have asked."

"Not your fault. I'm just still a little bitter about the situation. Steve barely sees the boys, but he has all the time in the world for his new wife and her kids."

"I thought you said he's "doing" at least one to two other women a week?" Mac said confused.

"Oh he is," Kelly said. "And she knows it." Mac just raised his eyebrows in disbelief, not needing anymore explanation.

"Mommy, we want McDonald's," Jake said, running out of the store with Josh in tow.

"In a few minutes sweetie. Mommy's talking."

"Hi," the little boy said to Mac.

"Hi Jake," Mac said.

"How did you know my name, mister?"

"I'm a friend of your Mommy's," Mac said with a smile. "You can call me Mac."

"Hi Mac. That's a weird name. Do you want to come to McDonald's with us?" Mac looked at Kelly. He didn't want to be rude and say no, but at the same time, Mac didn't want to take the kids offer either. After all, Kelly was the one Mac wished had invited him.

"Mac probably has better things to be doing than spending an hour or more at McDonald's with us," Kelly said. Right away, Mac assumed that was Kelly's way of uninviting him. "We would love the company, but don't feel bad saying no," Kelly then told Mac.

"Well, I don't want you to be pressured into me joining you because of you kids. But I would love to catch up. Maybe we can actually stay in touch this time, living in the same city and all."

"It wouldn't be pressure at all. I would love to have you join us. It'd be nice to talk to you again."

During lunch, Jake talked to Mac a lot. So much in fact, that he and Kelly barely got to talk at all. Mac could tell Jake was really outgoing, while Josh was quiet. He would barely look at Mac aside from giving him shy glances every now and then. Any time Mac caught Josh looking at him though, Josh would immediately hide behind Kelly once again. It was funny, because Josh looked more like Kelly, but Mac could tell Jake had more of Kelly's personality traits. In fact, Jake reminded Mac a lot of Lexi in those months leading up to the Olympics.

"Don't take it personally, Mac," Kelly cut in, interrupting Mac's thoughts. "Josh is shy with everyone. He won't even leave me to go with his father anymore because he's hardly ever around," Kelly explained as Josh continued to eat his Happy Meal hiding behind his mom.

"Yeah, Josh is super shy. I think it's because he's little," Jake said.

"You're not shy at all though, are you?" Mac asked with a laugh, thinking about how much the kid talked. And once Jake found out Mac played in the NHL he really wouldn't stop talking about how cool it was and how he played hockey too.

"I just started playing this year. You have to be four to start playing. I have to play all the positions, but I like being a center like Uncle Mark." Jake barely stopped for a breath – or a bite of his cheeseburger.

After lunch, Mac got the feeling Kelly was trying to ask him something, but she was hesitating.

"So, thanks for coming to lunch with us. It was nice trying to catch up although Jake monopolized a lot of the conversation," Kelly said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I enjoyed it," Mac said.

"Well… maybe we could go out for coffee or drinks or something to talk sometime, without my little record player over there," Kelly said, trying to make the invitation seem casual. In reality, it was casual, but at the same time, Kelly couldn't help but think a date would be nice.

"Are you asking me out?" Mac asked, laughing a little.

"Well," Kelly began, her face turning red. "It wouldn't really be a date, but I would like to catch up. I mean, it could be a date, but I'm sure your girlfriend would be opposed to that, so just a casual coffee would be fine." Kelly had no idea if Mac had a girlfriend or not. She just used that as a cover.

"What if I told you I'm single?" Mac asked. "Then would it be a date?" he asked, amused to hear her answer.

"Well… I guess… if you wanted it to be," Kelly said. Her face was red again, and she didn't know why she was getting flustered like that.

Mac smiled. "Sure. I would love to go out with you. How's Saturday night?"

"Great," Kelly said. "I have to make sure I can get a babysitter, but it shouldn't be a problem."

"Seven o'clock?" Mac asked.

"Sounds great." After exchanging numbers and going over more details, they decided said good-bye, both excited for their date Saturday.

Mac and Kelly both had a great time on their date. Mac thought they really seemed to hit it off, and nothing changed between them over the past seven years since Lake Placid. In fact, it almost seemed they were more compatible now. Kelly really enjoyed her evening too. Mac was the first guy she went out with since Steve, but she knew he was different from other guys. He didn't seem to be bothered at all by the fact that she had kids, whereas most other men would. Kelly figured part of his understanding came from being friends with Mark. When Lexi came into the picture during the Olympic training, Mac learned what it was like to have a kid around constantly, and he became accustomed to it. With other guys, Kelly usually felt that even if they understood her having a kid, they couldn't really empathize with her situation, because they never experienced it. Mac sort of did, so Kelly felt more comfortable with him.

Over the next several months, Mac and Kelly grew closer, and Jake and Josh grew closer to Mac too. Jake was already outgoing from day one around Mac, but even Josh began opening up after a couple months. It really seemed like Kelly and Mac might actually be on their way to true happiness with each other.

A little less than a year and a half after having lunch in McDonald's, Mac and Kelly were married. Ten months later in December of 1989, their daughter Krysta was born.

_December 1998_

By the end of the 1990 season, Mark retired from the NHL and played in Europe for two seasons, as his father coached his old team, the Penguins, to a Stanley Cup victory in 1991. A few short months after winning the Cup, Bob was diagnosed with brain cancer and died by the end of the year. Mark continued playing though this, but moved back to the states in 1992. Mark, Hannah, and their three kids settled in Wisconsin where Mark coached high school teams, and then the Badgers Women's team starting in 1996. Kelly, Mac, Jake, Josh, and Krysta were still living in St. Paul, but the brother-in-laws got to see quite a bit of each other because both families went back and forth between Madison and St. Paul often. Mark and Kelly's mother moved back to Madison after Bob died, and both Hannah and Mac's parents still lived in the Twin Cities area.

Lexi was now a 23-year-old college graduate and going on to get her Master's is early childhood education like, for all intents and purposes, her mom Hannah. She had a serious boyfriend as well, who had just a week before asked Mark for her hand in marriage. Mark loved Jason like his own son and immediately approved. The proposal was supposedly coming tonight. Lexi's brother Chris was a 16-year-old high school junior with a promising hockey career ahead of him. He hoped to eventually go on to receive a scholarship to his dad's alma mater and play as a Wisconsin Badger. Amanda was 13 and in middle school, growing up far too fast for either of her parents. Being the baby, they wanted her to stay their little girl forever.

On the other side of the family, Kelly's boys were doing great too. Jake, 15, and Josh, 13, both played hockey for their school's teams. Jake was a high school Varsity center, and Josh was a defenseman for his middle school team. Their step-father taught them well, and treated them like his own kids throughout their childhood. Their real father still hardly after saw them, especially since he was relocated to Tokyo for his job as an electrical engineer. Mac and Kelly's daughter Krysta was now 11 and in fifth grade. She played street hockey occasionally, but had no interest playing on an organized team. In all honesty, she wasn't very good anyway. Both Mac and Kelly knew she did far better in water, swimming, than she would ever do on ice.

As for the other guys on the Olympic team – most of them were married with kids of their own, even the ones that were least expected to settle down. Verchota, Silky, and OC, were all happily married with kids and scattered across the country. Coming up in about a year, Mark and Mac were trying to get a 20th reunion party set up so everyone could see each other again and meet each other's families. They were trying to get something together in Lake Placid were their dream to win the medal was made complete, and hopefully they would be able to talk Herb into coming with his family as well. Currently there was word that Herb was the front runner for coaching the US Olympic team again in the next winter Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City.

"What do you think about doing a reunion in Lake Placid then?" Mac asked at the dinner table on Christmas.

"Sure. I wonder how much it's changed in the last nineteen years?" Mark wondered.

"I hear it's a popular tourist attraction now," Mac said. "One of my buddies in Buffalo goes up there to ski every so often and always sees tourists checking out the rink.

After a few minutes of other conversation and eating, Mac spoke up again. "Wouldn't it be cool if-"

Mark cut him off and stole his words, along with Kelly and Hannah, speaking I unison. "If they made a movie based on the miracle Olympic story."

Mac laughed. "I guess I've mentioned _that_ before."

"Only several thousand times, honey," Kelly replied.

"You have to admit it would be cool though," he said.

"I bet they'll never make a movie. They already made one back in '81," Mark said, talking about a TV movie.

"Fine. I bet you a hundred dollars that they make another movie someday," Mac told him.

"All right, bet's on," Mark agreed.

A/N: The end. I just want to thank everyone for your constant support in my writing this. Thanks to NellieBly413672, meadow567, rejazz, katydid13, and iheartobama for your reviews. They really mean a lot and without reviews I wouldn't have the motivation to update. And another big thanks goes to Nelliebly for all of your support and advice in my stories so far. A big part of the reason I started posting my stories in the first place was because of you. Thanks! I'm sorry to say that this was probably my last story for a while. I have an idea for another, but I don't know that I'll have time during Medical School, and I hate making people wait months for updates. I always feel really guilty. I'll probably write when I can during the year and maybe start posting next summer after I have a lot done. Anyway, thanks again!


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